


Papillion

by alittlepieceofgundamwing_archivist



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Action, Light Angst, M/M, OOC Heero (on purpose), Preventers (Gundam Wing), Sappy, Yaoi, eventual lemony lime, nice but pushy Relena, post EW AU-ish-ness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-29
Updated: 2013-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 16:00:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 49,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14793558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlepieceofgundamwing_archivist/pseuds/alittlepieceofgundamwing_archivist
Summary: by Shira--This fic idea came to me after reading about a fic contest that was posted to the mailing lists. It was a contest where you had to write based on a provided idea, and the idea I chose is called "Heero, the not-so-perfect soldier," and the point of it it supposed to be Heero learning to deal with his emotions after J removed a controlling computer chip from his brain. In my fic, it is after the Eve War, and all the scientists are alive and well.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

"We're through. It's over," the older man said in his matter-of-fact, no nonsense way. "I have no use for you anymore, so you can go." He replaced his suture scissors to the cold tray on the counter beside them, fitting the metal lid onto the tray afterward.  
  
"But..."  
  
"Heero, go live your life." This time there was a hint of sympathy in the voice.  
  
"I-I don't...what do I do? Where should I go?" Heero Yuy, now eighteen, looked on with concern, his distress evident in his expression. After a long silence, Dr. J., Heero's long-time mentor and controller turned toward him, those eerie eyes peeking out through coke-bottle thick glasses, making him turn cold the way he always did when confronted by that gaze.   
  
"Where should you go? You want to know where you should go?" J waited for a response, but Heero could only nod. He wasn't so familiar with being asked. He was more familiar with being told. "Go where ever your heart desires, Heero. The world is yours now, now that you helped make it the place that it is today."  
  
He didn't answer.   
  
"Why don't you go to that girl...the Foreign Minister. She likes you, Heero. She'd be a good one to help you see the world the way it is now."  
  
"You mean Relena?"  
  
J stood, unbuttoning his lab coat and taking it off, draping it over the back of his desk chair. For the present, all projects had been suspended since the attainment of universal peace _\--_ peace that looked like it might remain for a while, at least a few years time. The Gundams were no more, and thus, their pilots were no longer needed either. Now a year after the final war, the Eve war, the five scientists had since given up their stance for the time being, deciding instead to remain invisible and observe the ever-strengthening peace out of the limelight. After the Eve War, they secretly announced to each of their trusted pilots that their services were no longer needed, and that they should move on in their lives. They were instructed, as one final order, to find a way to live comfortably and as happily as possible in the peace that they helped to obtain, and to remain loyal to Relena Darlian's efforts.  
  
Each pilot had received those instructions, except for one, that is. Heero. Instead, he had been called back to J and to L1, where he spent the following year continuing his training and generally existing for the likes of J's experimentation. They tested weaponry, designed new mobile suit plans, cracked computer codes, and did anything that would keep Heero's skills sharp and his attention focused. Then when it became obvious to the scientist that there honestly was no more use for the boy, he finally did decide that in all fairness to Heero, it was time to close up shop and let him live his own life.   
  
"Yes, Relena," J said, his eyes roaming over Heero in admiration. "She will help you."  
  
He had been a small boy when J started with him _\--_ small in both age and stature, but over the years, and with hard and patient work, he had transformed the boy into the impressive specimen that stood before him. He'd turned the shy, yet argumentative boy into a well oiled, quick-witted fighting machine. Strong, Lean. Balanced. Obedient. Intelligent. Heero Yuy had far surpassed his expectations, allowing himself to be molded into the deadliest of weapons, but everything eventually comes to an end, J reasoned, and so must this. As much as he would miss the boy, miss having his pride and joy available to every beck and call, it was time to let go. There was no feeling of camaraderie, no fatherly love that would be lost _\--_ only the sadness that he was giving up his control, but it was high time he did and J knew it. It was high time to give Heero his life back.   
  
He picked up a little computer chip from his desk and fingered it, his skin becoming slightly bloodied from a few places on the chip that were still wet. "Go to her, Heero. Start over. Live your life. And if your services are ever needed again, you can offer them this time on your own. I thank you for what you have given me and the rest of the world, Heero, and I do hesitate to let you go, but I can't control your life forever. Even I realize that." J dropped the chip on the floor, then crushed it with his heel as Heero watched on.  
  
"Go to Relena," the Japanese boy repeated in a hushed tone just loud enough for them both to hear, his eyes fixed on J's foot. Then he looked up. "I'll go to Relena, then. She'll tell me what to do."  
  
"No!" J said loudly. "Go to her to learn, Heero, but YOU tell you what to do. It's time, Heero. Time for you to be you. You don't need anyone to tell you what to do anymore. You need to decide for yourself now."  
  
Nodding again, Heero rubbed the back of his head to scratch the nylon stitches that had been sewn into his scalp, then stood. He looked at J once more, uncertainty in his eyes, then turned to leave. Walking out of J's office that last time, Heero realized that he would probably never hear from or see the man again, and his emotions were varied. While he felt relief, the relief from knowing that he was no longer required to be someone else's puppet, there was also a mind-numbing fear, something so strong that it clouded his thought, making it impossible at that moment. For the first time in his life that he could remember, Heero was completely in control of his destiny and it frightened him in a way that he'd never been frightened before.  
  
As he gathered up his few belongings and exited the science building for the last time, Heero converged on the real world alone, his gut wrenched into a knot, his face pale and colorless against the backdrop of his dark hair.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

The door to Relena's private office swung open after a low knock, and the sight that greeted her had her speechless for a few seconds. She looked on in complete, shocked surprise.  
  
"H-Heero!" Relena stood from behind her desk, a pen dropping from her dainty hand, hitting the letter she was signing and making an ink smear. "Oh my God...Heero...is that you?"  
  
He had walked out of her life so suddenly. There had been the Eve war, and he'd been injured in the end trying to keep her from being killed. Thinking about that day, that fateful day when Heero Yuy once again saved the world, Relena's stomach twisted as her eyes continued to stare at him in disbelief that he was actually standing there in front of her. He didn't move at all, but only stared back.  
  
He had been injured, but Sally had seen to those injuries, making him well enough again that by the time he woke up from his exhausted slumber, he'd been at least fit enough to pack up his belongings and leave. He hadn't even stopped by to say goodbye, or let anyone know where he was going. No one had heard from him in over as year _\--_ not Sally, not the other pilots, and certainly not Relena herself. For all any of the rest of them knew, Heero was long since dead. Seeing him at her door on this afternoon was nothing short of a miracle, Relena thought, especially since she had made herself realize that he never did feel for her what she wanted him to feel for her. It had taken a while but she'd finally come to terms with his disappearance, reasoning that if he had, indeed, cared for her romantically he would never have disappeared the way he did.  
  
But this...this changed everything. Or did it? Relena was now thoroughly confused.  
  
She moved around to the front of the desk, her hands anxiously wringing together. "C-come in. Please...close the door Heero, and come in."  
  
The young man did as he was instructed, shutting the door behind him after he entered the room, placing his bag against the wall. He hesitantly approached her, then stopped when he stood about five feet before her. His face was blank, as it always was, but his eyes, those same electric blue eyes that had always mesmerized her, told a different story. Something was wrong.  
  
"Heero?" Relena asked, searching deep inside his eyes as if she were trying to see inside his head and read his thoughts before they made it to his lips.  
  
"H-hello Relena," he said, and his eyes dropped to the carpet.   
  
The voice, it was the same, still deep and sensual as always, but the inflection was all wrong. Not the confident, demanding, hard voice that she was used to. Instead, this voice was unsure. It was questioning. It was downright scared.  
  
Relena stepped forward cautiously, then edged her way into his gaze. With invisible fingers, she lifted his chin until he looked at her. "Heero...is everything alright?"   
  
He said nothing, but looked as though he would cry at any moment.   
  
"Oh dear. Oh Heero," she said as she slid her arms around his form. He felt stiff and uncomfortable against her, until he finally gave in to her comforting. Feeling his body trembling slightly, Relena thought, at first, that he was crying, but actually he was doing everything in his power not to. He carefully let his arms thread around her waist, then snuggled up to her, all the while forcing himself to remain as composed as possible even though his entire body ached to be let free. Relena became teary-eyed herself, wondering what it was that could have turned the Heero Yuy that she knew into the quivering person in her arms today. Then guiding him to the seating suite in the adjoining room, Relena sat with him, waiting quietly for Heero to regain his composure and explain himself. She held his hand tightly, her face a look of troubled concern.  
  
Looking into Heero's confused eyes, Relena could see that there was something very different about the young man now, something that hadn't been there before. Or even, something that had been there that wasn't now. His eyes were softer, more readable, and they definitely lead on that whatever it was that was bothering him, it ran deep, to his core. Before, Heero's eyes had always been so remarkable _\--_ they were shifty and blank, with all of his emotion and feeling hidden behind them for no one to see. This time, however, everything was out in the open. Everything was clear. There was a person behind these eyes today, a person who was in grave need of comforting and care.  
  
Heero sniffed, holding himself together. "He's cut me loose." He didn't look at the girl.  
  
"Who has?"  
  
"J."  
  
Relena sat up straight. "Is that where you've been all this time, Heero? We were all concerned about where you went when you left. You never even left a note about where you were going. I was beginning to think the worst."  
  
His eyes still hidden so as not to show the guilt that he felt for doing that, for leaving without a trace a year ago, Heero explained. "I went back, because...because that's what he told me to do. To go back. But now he doesn't need me anymore."  
  
Relena smiled a weak smile. "But that's a good thing, isn't it? You so desperately needed for all the fighting, all your fighting to be over with. Isn't it a good thing?"  
  
Heero looked up with a terror in his eyes that momentarily stilled her heart. "You don't understand, Relena."  
  
"I can try."  
  
"I...he..." Heero stopped, unable to construct a coherent thought until he relaxed. "All of my life, he's controlled me, Relena. As long as I can remember being alive. He's always been there, telling me what to do, how he wanted it done, and what to do when I was finished."  
  
She sat quietly, listening as Heero unloaded his emotional baggage on her, feeling very strange to be doing just that. She always imagined having a heart to heart conversation with the former Gundam pilot, but in her mind it was always she who was doing the unloading while he was doing the listening. In a way, it made her feel important, to be Heero's confident like that, but she was equally disturbed by his condition, something that she would never have imagined possible.  
  
"He made me leave. He said he was through with me...with what I represented to him."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"It's hard for me to explain." Heero wiped a hand across his face, breathing a deep, stress-relieving sigh. "He...all this time, Relena...Do I seem different to you?"  
  
He caught her off guard with his question. "Different?" Of course he seemed different. She'd been trying to figure out exactly what it was that was different since she laid eyes on him standing in her doorway a little while ago. "Well, yes...I guess you seem a little different than..."  
  
"How? How do I seem different?"  
  
"How?" She repeated his question, not knowing how to explain what it was that she was noticing.  
  
"Yes...I need to know, Relena. How do I seem different than before? How?"  
  
His antagonization startled her. "You uh...you seem...you seem scared, Heero. And your eyes are different. They aren't cold the way they used to be."  
  
"What else?" His gaze was right on her, and still his eyes were much softer than they would have been before.  
  
"Well, I'd say it's pretty strange of you that you obviously need help of some kind and you decided to come to me. That and, you relaxed some when I hugged you. You would never have done that before." Relena looked on, confused, wondering just what Heero was getting at.  
  
He sat for a few moments thinking before speaking up again. "J was controlling my mind. The whole time during both wars, and during all my training before that. For years and years, he's been controlling me, Relena."  
  
"Controlling? How?" Her face looked worried now.  
  
"A device. Implanted at the base of my brain stem."  
  
Relena's expression went blank. "Oh now Heero, I seriously doubt..."  
  
"Look." He took her hand and leaned toward her so he could guide it to the back of his head, to the place where J had removed the tiny chip and placed three nylon sutures in his skin. She recoiled with surprise, yanking her hand back as if something had hurt it.  
  
"But...why?"  
  
"To train me."  
  
"To train you? That's absurd."   
  
"Is it really?" Heero paused. "Is it really that absurd? Look at the facts, Relena. I didn't know the chip was there _\--_ it's apparently been there since before I can remember it being put in. Hell, for all that I've just found out about myself, he probably placed it in there at some point after knocking me out with gas or something. He isn't beyond those tactics, you know."  
  
"That's inhumane!" Relena cried.  
  
"I lived a very inhumane life. That is, until I allowed myself to be trained."  
  
"I don't understand what you mean by trained."  
  
"What I mean is this. I remember, as a boy, suffering from excruciating headaches. Headaches so bad, that I couldn't function. They would blind me, make me unable to hear. I would just crumble in the corner of my bedroom or wherever I was with my head wrapped in my arms and wish to every God in the heavens that they would go away before I went insane from the pain. It got to the point where I was having headaches so often, I wanted to die."  
  
"Oh my God..."  
  
"I didn't want to do the things he made me do. I tried to rebel. I wanted to do...you know...normal kid things, but I wasn't allowed to. I had to study and work out. I had to train in the martial arts until my body was so exhausted that sometimes I was carried back to my bed. I had to learn how to pick pockets and hack computers."  
  
"And here I thought Duo was the only pick-pocket among the five of you," Relena said, smirking, trying to lighten the mood somewhat. She sighed and flopped herself back on the love seat, preparing for the rest of Heero's speech.  
  
"I wasn't allowed to listen to music, watch TV or have any friends. Everything was strictly by J's order, and nothing was ordered that wouldn't further my training. No one else even knew I existed, because I was a 'secret project.' If anyone else knew about what he was doing with me, I would have been taken away from him for sure." He paused. "I did all of this against my will, Relena, until J put me in Wing. By that time, I was perfectly trained to follow every order, so I did it without question. I was too afraid of the punishment."  
  
"But...what about your parents? Couldn't they have stopped this if you were unhappy?"  
  
"I don't remember anyone other than J and one other person. I've asked, but J won't tell me anything. I can't be certain, but I think my parents may have been killed in the early days of the wars. I don't know how I came to be under his care but..."  
  
"What, exactly, was the punishment?"  
  
"Headache."  
  
"I don't understand. He was controlling your headaches?"  
  
Heero nodded. "I figured it out a while ago, but I just couldn't understand how out how he was doing it. I didn't know about the chip. It was placed on top of nerves that would trigger the headaches. All that time growing up that I suffered from those headaches, it was J controlling them. If I went against his wishes, he caused a headache. He made them stronger and stronger until I..." Heero stopped and swallowed hard, looking at Relena. "Until I honestly thought my head would explode. H-he did this until I stopped fighting him. Until I didn't care any more, and just did what he wanted."  
  
Relena looked on, astonished. "He trained you like an animal. He broke your will."  
  
"He trained me until I knew better than to question. That's how I could risk my life so easily in battle, Relena. Because no death would be as bad as having to live through another one of J's headaches."  
  
For many minutes, neither of them spoke, both contemplating Heero's revelation and its implications.  
  
"But Heero...how does...why are you different? Your eyes, your expression. You would never have let someone see you scared before. What happened?"  
  
"It was the training, Relena. He conditioned me, I think, to be that way. No emotions, no fear, no regrets. He trained it all out of me. I wasn't allowed to be scared before. It would be a liability to the mission."  
  
Relena then came to a sudden realization, and she understood better. "He programmed everything out of you, but he didn't reprogram you, now that he doesn't need you, did he?" Her tone was solemn.  
  
Heero shook his head. He wasn't really sure what "reprogramming" entailed, but he was at least confident that it was a little more than simply removing a chip from his head.  
  
"He just threw you to the wolves all by yourself." She was overtaken by an overwhelming feeling of pity and sorrow now.  
  
"I..." Heero could only look at her, his eyes portraying his deep and justified fear. "I have no idea what I'm doing or where I'm going now, Relena." It came out as a barely audible whisper, and he leaned close to her, needing to feel the warmth of her body next to his. "I've never been so scared in all my life."  
  
Wrapping her arms around Heero once more to comfort him, Relena realized just how true his last statement probably was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

As both he and J had expected, Relena insisted that Heero stay with her for a while, until he was able to figure out what he wanted to do with himself. As uncomfortable as he felt doing that, not wanting to be a burden on his friend, he realized that he had no choice, because even he understood just how unprepared he was to face the world alone. Besides the obvious fact that he just had no practical knowledge of anything other than espionage and combat, he knew that he still had a long way to go before he could confidently say he was comfortable cohabiting around the masses of people that lived in the world. Having grown up in solitary the way he had, being around groups of people tended to make him uncomfortable, so say the least. But he knew there was hope. While he did feel strange and out of place as part of the general population now, Heero also felt some of his true self trying to break through, and that true self was attempting to tell him that he wanted to, somehow, be with people _\--_ where human beings usually are _\--_ with other human beings.  
  
He decided that day, after grudgingly accepting Relena's generous offer, that he would remain with her only long enough for him to get settled with a job and a place to live. After that, he would thank her, then move on, so that he could try to really discover who he was and where he fit into the bigger picture of life that had now been opened up to him. He refused to allow himself to take too much advantage of a good friend who was nice enough to help him when he really needed it most.   
  
He was given a pleasant bedroom on the south side of the mansion facing the beautifully manicured flower gardens and an exquisite reproduction Grecian fountain that spilled blue-dyed water over its edges and into a big basin below. There was a comfortable-looking queen-size bed that swam with fluffy, clean-smelling bedding. A nightstand stood beside the bed, under a window. Against one wall was a tall chest of drawers, which matched the bureau on the adjoining wall perfectly. Across from the bed, a generously sized desk of cherry wood in the same Queen Anne style as the rest of the bedroom furnishings. The carpet was plush and soft, a rich maroon color that corresponded nicely with the hue of the wood pieces and also the floral draperies that hung from the frames of the room's two windows. The space was very similar to the one that Heero had stayed in years before during the Colony Wars, but he had no way of knowing that since, during that time, his mind was preoccupied with only one thing, and it certainly wasn't the way the guest bedrooms were decorated.  
  
Heero gingerly walked over to the bed, setting his bag down beside him. Sitting on the edge of the plush mattress, he noticed its softness, then took a startled look around the bedroom. The windows were open on this warm summer afternoon, allowing a floral-scented breeze to waft in from the gardens below. Heero breathed in deeply and closed his eyes, letting himself experience his environment through his other senses _\--_ the birds chirping outside, the sweet fragrance of the air, the cushy softness of the quilts in the bed. His world was suddenly so filled with things that he had missed before _\--_ the little details in life that he always knew were there, but never was allowed to consider unless they had something to do with his mission. Then opening his eyes again, Heero just stared this time, as if he were trying to memorize everything before him and lock it all into his steel trap of a mind.  
  
He had a lot of living to catch up on, Heero realized.  
  
Rising from his perch at the edge of the bed, Heero took his bag over to the bureau and began to unpack it. His moves were slow and deliberate as he unzipped the bag, removing his few meager belongings with care. A pair of jeans, the only pair he had besides the pair he was currently wearing; a few shirts and T-shirts; a week's worth of socks and underwear; a pair of jogging shoes. He placed the items, one by one, in a top drawer, then noticed that the drawer was still half-empty. These few items, replaced when necessary but hardly ever added to throughout his years, represented all that he had in life for his eighteen years now. Simplicity had been his life, since few belongings made him hard to follow and less occupied with material possessions. Sure, he had a nice pension to fall back on, a bonus plan that the Gundam pilots had been supplied with out of thanks from the Earth and Colonies, but he wouldn't be able to draw on that until he was much older. For now though, he didn't have much. Not much at all and, until now, that had been just fine. Heero sighed.  
  
Dropping his running shoes to the floor, Heero pushed them to the side of the bureau with his foot, then went back to his bag. Reaching inside with both hands now, he grasped his final belonging, his souvenir from his service to the colonies and the universe, his laptop computer. He walked it across the room and placed it down on top of the desk. The computer had already been stripped of anything that connected it with Dr. J. or the Gundam projects. All files and software had been formatted, leaving the computer clean and fresh and ready to start anew.  
  
Looking down at the apparatus, Heero recalled the way he had used it _\--_ he'd programmed his Gundam with it, sent and received top-secret encrypted messages with it, he'd even blown up buildings via remote charges with it. Now, however, it was nothing more than a glorified word processor and databank. Lifting the screen lid, Heero switched the computer on and watched the machine go through its setup and diagnostics. When it finished, displaying a plain blue desktop and a couple of software icons, he shut it back down again, then closed the lid.  
  
Going back to the bed, Heero sat again and pushed his boots off. They hit the carpet, one by one, with a low thud. He rolled himself onto the bed and lay back, his tired body and stressed mind lying staring at the ceiling, which was also decorated with ornate patterned wallpaper and a crystal light fixture. Fingers went to the sutures at the back of his head as his thoughts began to wander, and before long, he was in a deep sleep.  
  
When Relena stopped a few moments later to make sure he was settling in OK, her knock went unanswered. She opened the door a crack, just to be sure that Heero was indeed still there and hadn't flown the coop yet again. What she saw through the slim opening brought a small, sad smile to her face as she looked upon the former Gundam pilot that she had been so madly in love with not a year ago. He was curled in a loose fetal position, unconscious to the world. As strong and capable as he was, Relena thought, now he was being forced to start over, like a new infant just being born.  
  
Her heart ached for him, and she resolved that she would do everything in her power _\--_ everything that he would allow her to do _\--_ to see that he was taken care of. After all, the peace that now existed in the universe was just as much a result of his doing as it was hers. She may have orchestrated the plans, but it was Heero and the other Gundam pilots who carried them out and brought them all to life. It was Heero who had fought so fearlessly, bloodying his own hands in the thick of the battle. And to think now that he did it all while being forced to hide his natural fears as well... that definitely deserved whatever care she could provide him in her book. Finally satisfied that Heero was all right, Relena shut the door quietly, leaving him to sleep.   
  
+  
  
Relena's attention was stolen from her work by a light knock at the door. It was Heero.  
  
"Am I interrupting?"  
  
She pushed the stack of papers in front of her to the side. "Not anymore." Relena smiled.  
  
"I wanted to talk to you about something. About the Preventers."  
  
Heero had heard that Sally Po had finally been successful in strengthening the Preventers organization, which he had fought to the aid of in the Eve War about a year ago. He'd also come to understand that this organization was now the governing body for universal peace after being officially instated by Relena to be the "universal watchdog," as it was.  
  
"What do you want to know, Heero?"  
  
He shrugged, then approached the large desk, sitting in the armchair in front of it. "Everything."  
  
Relena told him everything he wanted to know.  
  
After a few moments of contemplation, Heero then asked, "Do you think Sally could use another Gundam pilot?"  
  
Relena's face lit up initially, but then she hesitated. "Is that really something you want to do, considering... "  
  
"Actually, I think it is," Heero said, his eyes pierced on Relena's. His glare was something less than a glare these days, but it was obvious enough that he was serious. "I think working for the Preventers is just what I'd like to do."  
  
"But after everything J put you through... "  
  
"I never said I disagreed with his motives. What I disagreed with were his methods, but I have to wonder, too, how I would have turned out if things hadn't been the way they were."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Heero adjusted his position in the chair. "If he hadn't been as hard on me, would I be the way I am today? Would I be as capable of everything that I'm capable of? Would I even be alive?"  
  
"You'd be happier," Relena said. "You wouldn't be so afraid right now." The girl was astute if she was anything. It was hard to hide things from her. In the week's time that Heero had been staying at the mansion with her, she'd already been able to figure out the fact that even though J's computer chip had been removed, Pavlov's dog still anxiously awaited the dinner whistle.   
  
Heero was still very much afraid to be anything besides what his training dictated, even if he did seem a little more relaxed about it all. It was obvious in his reaction to a lot of things, or, more accurately, his non-reaction.  
  
"I... yeah." Heero paused. "I want to become a Preventer, Relena. I think it's the right thing for me."  
  
"I think you could be right, but you still have a lot of things to come to terms with before you wind up living the rest of your life just as miserably as you began it."  
  
Her insight surprised him. "Yes, I know. I have to un-learn a lot of bad habits, don't I?"  
  
"Not necessarily bad habits, or at least not at the time. Self-preservation is a natural instinct for all of us, Heero. You learned what you had to do to avoid the punishment of pain. But the punishment isn't there anymore now. You have to teach yourself that it's OK to do the things that you want to do now. You have to promise yourself that you will become a Preventer because you want to... not because you should."  
  
Heero nodded, his face solemn. He knew she was right. Things were different now. There was nobody waiting to press the buzzer and send him collapsing into a fit of uncontrollable pain. The buzzer didn't even exist anymore. But old habits die hard, and Heero realized that undoing nearly eighteen years worth of behavioral conditional training wasn't going to be easy.  
  
Relena smiled again. "I'll call Sally for you and set up an interview. I have some business to discuss with her anyway."  
  
"I'd appreciate that," Heero said. Then he rose from his seat and turned to leave just as quietly as he came in before Relena stopped him.  
  
"Heero?"  
  
He turned to look at her, his body stiff and awkward in his discomfort of just being him.  
  
"Are you busy tonight?" She asked, even though she knew that he wasn't.  
  
Heero looked at the girl with a blank expression. "No."  
  
"Want to go out tonight? To have some fun?"  
  
Now here was a concept that Heero knew absolutely nothing about. Having fun.   
  
"S-sure. What did you have in mind?" His voice gave away his nervousness.  
  
"What about dinner and a movie?" She looked at him hopefully. "Star Wars _\--_ Episode 15 is playing and I haven't seen it yet. I'd be honored if you'd accompany me."  
  
"I know this is going to sound really stupid but, I've never been to a movie before."  
  
"I figured as much. Well, it's lots of fun, something YOU need to start having. So... how about it?"  
  
A faint smile flickered on Heero's lips. "Sure. Sounds great."  
  
"Wonderful. Be ready to go by six."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

Exiting the Movie Theater later that night, Heero was in a rare form, the likes of which Relena had never seen. He actually seemed relaxed, and even a little bit happy, as they discussed the story line and special effects of the movie. Relena learned very quickly that you do not take a combat pilot _\--_ let alone a former Gundam pilot _\--_ to a movie like "Star Wars _\--_ Episode 15" without expecting to hear about how unrealistic the whole mess is.  
  
"I don't care if it is Hollywood. That was not a good battle scene at the end. I mean... you just can't DO those things in zero gravity, Relena!" Heero argued with the girl, trying to sound insulted that she didn't find the movie to be a total debauchery the way he did.  
  
"Yes, I know that, you know that... the rest of the universe knows that," she argued back, patronizing him. "But it was a movie, Heero. A mooo-veee. Get it? It was all effect." The girl laughed.  
  
"I don't know," he responded as they got into the waiting limousine. "It all just seemed really far-fetched if you ask me, what with this 'dark force,' and the way they could just materialize from thin air to get from place to place."  
  
"That's cellular transposition."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Like... have you ever seen Star Trek? No, I guess not. OK, stupid question, I know. But anyway, it was an old television show back before the colonies existed. They could travel in a similar way in that program. They would get into these tubes and press a button, and it would break them down to a cellular level, then move the cells one by one through space. Pretty advanced for the times, if you ask me, since here we are and we still can't do that. Neat, even if it was all fake."  
  
Heero looked at Relena in utter confusion. "Star what?"  
  
"Don't worry about it. It's not important."  
  
"Yeah, don't forget. I've been in the dark for almost eighteen years. Sarcasm was a new thing for Heero to try out. He seemed to be picking it up quickly. "And who is this Jedi Master Luke Skywalker that everyone in the movie keeps referring to? Where is he? And why is he so important?"  
  
"He's dead!" Relena laughed out loud, then placed a small kiss on Heero's cheek. "You're really cute sometimes, you know that? It's along story. Look, I'll explain the entire series of movies to you some time when we have time to sit down and watch them all, OK?"  
  
By the next evening, Heero would return to his bedroom to find not only a video system with a nice big screen set up, but also a high-volume video disc containing all of the Star Wars movies (all fourteen prior releases, that is,) the Star Trek movies and the television episodes, and a few other notable classics. There were the Indiana Jones movies, the Lethal Weapon movies, the Terminator movies, and slipped in for good measure, one of Relena's favorites, Titanic. For nostalgia, she also included the Austin Powers movies, to see if Heero would pick up on the similarities between himself and the International Man of Mystery who, having been cryogenically frozen, finds himself awake during a different time and a different era. As odd as it was, you could almost argue the same thing about the former Gundam pilot. It was almost like he'd been frozen in J's little lab, only to be let out to do his bidding on the world, then put back away again like some delicate thing that needed watching and protecting.  
  
When he showed up at Preventers headquarters later that week, Heero didn't know what to expect. He wasn't so sure whether he'd receive a warm welcome or not from his fellow former pilots, considering how he'd left without a trace after the Eve War. There was a high possibility that they'd be pretty annoyed at him, and for the first time in his life, Heero actually cared about this. He was worried about the idea that his friends could and probably were angry with him. With apprehension building inside him, Heero quickly made his way through the lobby, noting the echo that followed him, and into a waiting elevator. He pressed the button that read 12, then leaned against the metal wall and sighed.  
  
The elevator soon chimed, announcing its arrival on the 12th floor as it lurched to a stop, and the doors pulled open. As Heero looked up, his stomach immediately sank. Here we go, he thought, as he stepped out of the elevator to face the one person he had been hoping to avoid.  
  
"I don't fucking believe it." Duo Maxwell said with biting apathy. He had been waiting for the elevator when Heero got off. "Heero fucking Yuy, in the flesh. To what do I owe this honor?"  
  
Heero was dumbfounded. He realized a long time ago that his partner and closest friend would probably be angry about his leaving the way that he did, but deep inside him, the hope remained that maybe things wouldn't turn out that bad between them. As he stood there facing Duo, those hopes were dashed to bits.  
  
The former pilot of the Gundam Deathsyche Hell didn't seem as though he'd changed much in a year's time. His beloved rope of chestnut-colored, braided hair still hung behind him; his stature looked pretty much the same too, although he may have grown an inch or two taller since the last time Heero had seen him. Then there were those strange, violet-blue eyes, still every bit as confusing as they had always been, only right now they seemed to be turning red with fury.  
  
"I... " Heero didn't know what to say. What could he say? He stared into turbulent violet eyes that demanded some kind of an explanation from him. "I'm sorry, Duo." It was all he could muster up before breaking his contact and looking at the floor.  
  
Duo, on the other hand, had plenty to say, but he was late for an appointment. He checked his watch and cursed. Then shaking his head, he passed around Heero and pounded the elevator button with his fist, getting on when the doors opened for him. His eyes remained hard on his former partner as the elevator doors closed, his pained look displaying his displeasure and annoyance.  
  
"Shit," Heero cursed under his breath, then turned to make his way to Sally Po's office, hoping he didn't encounter any of the other former pilots along the way.  
  
Sally Po was a little more cordial than Duo had been. She even greeted Heero with a loose embrace, something that he didn't expect. He reminded himself to not push away or act standoffish, something that Relena had talked about with him. "Nothing will offend people faster than making them feel like you can't stand to be near them," she had said while trying to teach him how to accept a hug and not be so stone rigid about it. It was something that she was good at _\--_ hugging people _\--_ since in her line of duty, she did it frequently, whether she wanted to or not. It gave a feeling of friendship and trust, and as the Foreign Minister, it was her job to keep everyone happy and trusting of her.  
  
As it would be expected, Sally was very interested to know about Heero's account of his last meeting with Dr. J. Being a doctor herself, she was awestruck to hear about Heero's past, what little he knew, but it was the method in which he was force-trained that had her shaking her head. To further solidify his story, Heero even let her see the remaining stitches at the incision site where J had removed the computer chip, and she went as far as to offer to remove the sutures for him, since the skin looked well healed by now.  
  
"So... what do you want to do with yourself now, Heero?" Sally's questioning tone was very serious.  
  
"I'm here, aren't I?"  
  
The blonde woman sighed, tapping her desk with the end of her pen. Then she looked straight at the Japanese young man. "Just because you're here doesn't mean that you want to be. After everything I've just heard, I'd think that you'd want to get as far away from this as possible."  
  
Heero shook his head. "No, that's not it at all. As I mentioned to Relena, this," he looked around the room, "is what I'm about, Sally. Being able to be a part of it by my own decision is what makes it OK for me now."  
  
There were a few minutes of silence as Sally contemplated Heero's position. "Just because we have peace now doesn't mean there isn't anyone fighting, you know. There are crackpot organizations popping up all over the place to challenge us. We just dealt with one in the L5 cluster, since there still isn't a permanent government there after the destruction of the main colony. You'll see action _\--_ probably nothing like what you're used to, but it's still a life and death job."  
  
"I figured as much."  
  
"Well, Heero," Sally began, "I have to be honest with you. I can't tell you that I wasn't thrilled when Relena called me and informed me that you had surfaced out of thin air the way you did. People like you, with your abilities, are hard to come by, and I'd be a fool not to welcome you back."  
  
"Thank you," Heero said.  
  
"Are you sure you can still handle it? The pressure?"  
  
"I think so."  
  
"That isn't good enough, Heero. You know that."  
  
"Yes. I can handle it."  
  
More silence. Sally turned in her swivel desk chair to look out of her big pane glass window onto the cityscape before them. "It's a remarkable thing that we've done here, obtaining peace. We've worked so hard for it. You know this as well as I do. Probably more so. But it's fragile, Heero. One wrong move... one word misunderstood and... " She turned her chair back to face him. "I trust you, Heero. Always have. If you want in, you're in."  
  
"I want in."  
  
"Then welcome aboard, agent Yuy."  
  
Before leaving Preventers headquarters, Heero was escorted to the human resources office where he filled out employment papers and was fitted for his field uniforms. On days that he was not scheduled to be out of the building he could dress business casual _\--_ khakis with polo shirts or oxfords _\--_ which was pretty much the standard. He would have to get Relena to take him clothes shopping soon, so he had some new clothes for his new job.  
  
On the way out of the building, he stopped at the reception desk in the lobby. There was a middle-aged woman in a smart business suit answering the phones. Heero moved up to the desk and waited for her attention while she transferred a call.  
  
"May I help you?" the woman asked, a pleasant smile on her face.  
  
Heero cleared his throat. "Can you tell me if agent Maxwell is still in the building?"  
  
"One moment. I'll check." She turned to her computer and tapped a couple of keys on the keyboard. "Yes, according to my computer, he hasn't signed out yet today. I don't know if he's in his office or not, but I can find out. Shall I page him for you?"  
  
Heero paused for a moment. As much as he didn't want to confront the other young man's anger and disappointment, he didn't want to start his new job on bad terms with one of the other agents, either. Truth be known, he was beginning to experience a lot of guilt about the whole situation. He needed to talk things over with Duo.  
  
"If you don't mind," Heero finally answered.   
  
"Who shall I say is paging?"  
  
"Heero Yuy. I was just hired on as a new agent."  
  
The woman smiled again. "Very nice to meet you, agent Yuy. One moment please." She picked up the phone receiver and dialed a few numbers, then waited. "Agent Maxwell, there's an agent Yuy that would like to... oh... yes, I see. Very well. Thank you." She put the receiver back in its cradle and turned to Heero. "I'm sorry, agent Yuy. Agent Maxwell is not seeing anyone right now."  
  
"What did he say?"  
  
The woman's cheeks reddened somewhat. "He said to tell agent Yuy that he's busy and doesn't have time for excuses today."  
  
Heero sighed, lowering his eyes in disappointment.  
  
"Is there anything else I can do for you, agent Yuy?"  
  
Turning to leave, Heero said "No, no thanks. I'll see you tomorrow then." He walked across the empty lobby, disappearing through revolving glass doors and into the street.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

Over dinner, Relena noticed that Heero seemed a little off. Not that he hadn't already seemed off based on the Heero that she knew before _\--_ but this time, he seemed off even for the "new" Heero. Something was bothering him. She became concerned.   
  
"Did everything go OK today, Heero?" He had yet to mention anything about his meeting with Sally Po. Come to think of it, he really hadn't said much of anything since returning from Preventers headquarters.   
  
Heero didn't hear her at first, until she repeated herself louder. He sputtered to life when his thought process was interrupted by her voice. "Oh, sorry. Everything went fine. Agent Yuy, at your service." There was no emotion at all on his face as he spoke.   
  
Relena fiddled with her teaspoon, clinking it around on the inside of her cup. "Are you sure everything went well? You seem a little..."   
  
"Everything is fine, Relena." The glare, that glare, was back, and this time the girl quieted. Realizing that he had offended her, Heero stood, laying his linen napkin down on the table. "Excuse me," he said, and in a flash he was gone, headed back to his bedroom.   
  
 A little after nine, there was a knock on the bedroom door. He knew it was Relena. It had to be Relena, since the remaining members of the help staff were usually off after the evening meal had been cleaned up. Other than the two of them, there was no one else in the mansion, what with her brother still away on the long-term Mars terraforming project. She knocked again, softly.   
  
"Come in," he said in a hushed tone.   
  
The door opened in silence and the pretty blonde-haired girl slipped in, closing it behind her. She remained standing against the door. Heero was reclined on the bed, his arms propped behind his head, on a pillow.    
  
"Heero?"   
  
He sat upright on the bed now, throwing his legs over the side. She walked over and sat beside him.   
  
"I'm sorry, Relena. I didn't mean to upset you at dinner."   
  
She smiled a weak little smile. "Its OK, Heero. I was just concerned that something didn't go well for you, that's all."   
  
"I know," he said, his mind distracted by deep thought. He turned to look out the window closest to the bed. It was dusk and the remaining hints of daylight were giving way to a clear, starlit sky. If he had looked harder, he would have been able to see a faint glimpse of a bright light, the colony L1, where his life, and all of his troubles began, but Heero wasn't really seeing as he was looking. He was only thinking.   
  
"Heero?"   
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"Is there anything I can do?"   
  
Heero shifted on the bed, but didn't look at her. "Not really." They were silent for a long while, until she offered him some advice.   
  
"You know, I may not know everything there is to know at only eighteen, Heero, but I do know some things."   
  
"Yeah?" His monotone was back as he stared at the carpet.   
  
"I know that if you have things on your mind that trouble you, sometimes it helps to talk about it with a friend."   
  
Heero sighed. "It's hard for me to...you know, talk about things."   
  
"I know it is. But you have to try. You have to try or you'll be no better off that you were before, when you weren't allowed to. Its part of what being human is all about, Heero."   
  
He smirked, almost laughed, at her comment and she cocked her head. "You know, throughout the Colony Wars, the other pilots used to tease me about that. About being so committed to my missions that I couldn't possibly be human. It was because I showed no emotion at all. I just did what I had to do, what I was trained to do, and didn't let anything get in the way. Not anything. I think Quatre is the only one who never teased me about it."   
  
"I'm sorry about that," Relena said as she searched his eyes for any remnant of the emotion that she knew was trying to unveil itself.   
  
"Don't be. It was the truth. It still is, to an extent, and it will be until I can convince myself to let go of the past, I guess."   
  
A sympathetic smile was offered up. He answered it with a frown.   
  
"I ran into Duo before my meeting with Sally."   
  
"Oh?"   
  
Heero fidgeted. "He...wasn't very happy to see me."   
  
Relena sighed. "Duo was pretty upset when you just took off the way you did. He really looks up to you, you know." She slipped her hand into his and squeezed it. "I think it really hurt him that you went away without saying a word to him."   
  
"But..." Heero stopped. "I know how he feels now. The hurt. It's right here, isn't it?" He brought her hand up to his heart and pressed it there.   
  
Relena's eyes moistened. "Yes, I suppose you do." A crooked smile flickered on her pink lips. "That's good, you know. To feel that hurt. It means you really are human, no matter what anyone else says."  
  
She raised his hand, still around hers, to her lips and kissed it gently, eliciting an expression somewhere between confusion and apprehension on Heero's face. Then overcome by a desire that she had been pushing down as long as she'd known the mysterious Gundam pilot, Relena leaned forward to meet his lips in a gentle, heartfelt kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

The following morning, Heero's first day reporting as a Preventer, Sally scheduled a general meeting of all the agents and supervisors, at least the ones that weren't on assignment somewhere, so that she could announce Heero's joining of the organization. It was outside the meeting room before things got started that Heero ran into Wufei.  
  
"Yuy," the Chinese young man called across the hallway and over the other people who were filing into the room.  
  
"Wufei," Heero acknowledged with a bit of apprehension in his voice. Wufei walked over and stopped, a stern look on his face, causing Heero to feel even more self conscious.  
  
For a few seconds neither of them said anything as they glanced over each other, and Heero prepared himself for the tongue lashing that he knew Wufei was capable of giving. Instead, Wufei surprised him with an embrace and a little smile. Heero stared in wonder before he reciprocated with an unsure smile of his own.  
  
"Glad to have you back, Yuy," Wufei said as he offered his hand for a handshake between friends who had been through a lot together.  
  
Extending his hand to shake, Heero's smile became more genuine now, carrying his expression so that his eyes softened as well. "Thanks. I was worried you'd all be angry at me."  
  
"A lot of us were, last year. But I think we've managed to get over it, especially considering what we know now. That you left under orders."  
  
Heero sighed. "Some of you understand, at least." He looked down, embarrassed.  
  
"Oh, you mean Maxwell?" Wufei asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Give him time. He'll get over it and come around. You know Duo _\--_ he has the need to dramaticize everything," he smirked.  
  
Heero looked up, encouraged. "I hope you're right, Wufei."  
  
"He'll be fine in time. I think he's just shocked to see you." The Chinese young man reassured, noting that Heero really was, as Sally had insisted the previous evening when they had dinner together, different. The kind of different that a person is when they've just been through a life-altering event. He was more interested in everyone else, more concerned about their feelings. He was more human. It was obvious that Heero was aware now that there were other people living in the same world as he was, and that was a far cry from the Heero that they'd all come to know previously.  
  
"Sally explained everything to me last night. I think it will all work out," Wufei added, eliciting a strange face from Heero. "Oh...you know we're dating, right?"  
  
"No, I didn't know but...great!" Heero said with a friendly smile that said that he had no expertise in that field himself, but as long as Wufei was happy, that was good enough for him. He'd never given it much consideration, the two of them together, but in his mind it fit. They complimented each other, Sally and Wufei.  
  
Wufei checked his watch. "It's five to nine. We'd better get in there." The two agents passed through the doorway and into the meeting room, where they took seats beside each other.  
  
The large meeting room filled quickly, mostly with people that Heero had never met before, but there were a few familiar faces. Some people who had been working with Sally and Lady Une as they began to form the Preventers organization before the Eve War. He nodded at those that recognized him, but none approached to say anything or speak to him. Apparently his reputation was more renown than he had ever imagined, since it almost seemed like people were apprehensive around him.  
  
There was much mumbling and chattering in the room until Sally and Une showed up, after which everyone quieted, prepared to listen. Heero searched the room noticing that there was one very important person missing, and just as Sally was about to complain about it, the door opened one last time.  
  
"Sorry," Duo said aloud as he took one of the remaining empty seats. He looked at Sally, and then at Heero before looking away. Sally cleared her throat, ignoring him.  
  
As they sat waiting for the meeting to commence, Heero became increasingly aware that Duo was purposely ignoring him. He wondered if the other agent's late entrance was on purpose too, so that he didn't have to talk to Heero before hand while waiting for Sally and Une to show up. That would be just like Duo, to be underhanded like that. After all, he'd already expressed that he had no desire to speak to Heero about the past.  
  
Turning to look toward the man who had been his partner and one of his most trusted friends only a year earlier, it actually bothered him to see Duo peeking at him out of the corner of his eye, only to look away once he realized that he was being watched. Then Sally began the meeting, commanding everyone's attention toward her.  
  
"I wanted to take a moment to introduce our newest addition, agent Heero Yuy, former pilot of the Gundam Wing Zero." A murmur went around the room and Heero's face reddened a bit. "Agent Yuy has recently been relieved of other duties, and has decided to continue his work for the effort of universal peace, so I'd like you all to make him feel welcome."  
  
Heero looked around the room, smiling politely at those acknowledging him, and his eyes stopped on Duo once more. The other agent was visibly trying to ignore him now, but on his face was a tired look of distraught. Heero became uncomfortable with the invisible tension that was building between them, wishing he could simply drag Duo out into the hall and talk to him once and for all.  
  
This time Lady Une spoke, reading from a sheet in front of her. "As you know, we still have a number of projects underway, as well as some new ones starting up, and the addition of agent Yuy couldn't have happened at a better time." She looked up through her round rimmed glasses and glanced around the room before returning to her sheet. "Currently we have agents Merquise and Noin continuing with the supervision of the Mars project. For those of you who haven't heard the latest reports, they estimate that colonization may be possible within the year. Once that is formally confirmed, we will begin taking applications for nations wishing to colonize there."  
  
Someone coughed, and Heero's attention was momentarily broken from Une's report as he turned his head. Duo was staring right at him, but immediately turned away when their eyes met.  
  
"Agents Nichol and Waverly are still overseeing the construction of the outposts around L1 and L3. Agents Barton and Winner are doing the same on L4, as well as overseeing the Winner Corporation's contribution to the organization, the construction of the new Preventers satellite." She flipped a page. "We still have agents in the L5 cluster monitoring what is happening out there since there is still no set government over the smaller colonies, but there doesn't seem to be any unrest as far as the reports are coming in. Is that correct, agent Chang?"  
  
"Yes, things seem quiet again, after the last upheaval was stopped," Wufei informed to the room. "At the time of my return last week, I was aware that the Shin clan had stopped advancing on smaller colonies and retreated back to L5-116253. We need to keep watching them, but I think they are calming down since there has been a more prominent Preventer presence in the cluster."  
  
"Very good. Keep on top of that project please," Une said. "Agent Maxwell was overseeing things on his home colony of L2 until I called him back last week. We have an incident going on, and it needs some attention." She turned to Duo. "Duo, I'm sending Matt Gooding back in your place because I need you here."  
  
"What?" Duo's response was surprised and argumentative.  
  
"I need you here, agent Maxwell. Is there a problem?" Une's stern look caused Duo to sink back into his seat.  
  
"No M'am. No problem." Duo sighed, looking away. The expression on his face was pure disappointment.  
  
"Sally Po was alerted yesterday morning to stirrings going on in the region of the old Oz Lunar Base, and we've been asked to check it out. From the reports that came in, it is a possibility that someone has begun ammunitions production, and quite possibly mobile suit production, on the base, and we all know what that means, right people?"  
  
"We're planning on watching what's going on up there from here for a week, maybe two at first, via the high-power, and then if there seems to be any reason to do so, a team will be sent to check it all out," Sally added. The high-power was the universe's most powerful telescope. It was owned collectively by all the nations, and had been built at the Preventers scientific lab and observatory. It was powerful enough to read the words on the page of a magazine being read on the moon, so it came in very handy for observation from afar. "Plus, we're going to start monitoring all shuttle movement to and from the moon."  
  
"Who will you send?" Agent Thompson asked from across the room.  
  
Une answered. "If we are required to send a team for close observation, I plan on sending agents Maxwell and Yuy, since they have the most experience in deep space espionage and combat, and they are somewhat familiar with the Lunar Base itself."  
  
"Wouldn't it be easier to just send a team from some of the other outposts?" A second voice asked.  
  
Sally responded this time. "We don't want to interrupt anything that's happening at any of the other outposts. That would look suspicious."  
  
Heero looked at Une, then turned to Duo, who didn't seem pleased in the slightest.   
  
"Lt. Une, if I may..." Duo began, before being cut off by Une's curt reaction. She had been overseeing the transaction that was taking place between the two agents since the meeting began and wasn't pleased with what she saw.  
  
"Maxwell, Yuy. I want you both to wait here with me after the meeting."  
  
Heero nodded, thinking to himself that it was only the first day of work and already someone was pissed off at him. Duo only stared at the table. Une turned to Sally, who gave a small shrug, then a nod of her head. Everyone else in the room was silent.  
  
"OK people, I think that's it," Sally finally said, breaking the uncomfortable mood that had developed in the room. "If anyone has any questions about anything, I'll be in my office for the next few hours. Otherwise, please resume your current command assignments. Alexa, make sure I get meeting minutes in an hour, and please email them to all personnel that we have in the field."  
  
There was a collective sigh as agents began to rise, shuffling their way out of the room, anxious to get out of Une's path. She was a great leader and a fair woman, but if there was one thing the others knew about her, it was that she had a very high level of expectation of every person in the organization.  
  
When the last of the agents had left the meeting, leaving only herself, Sally, Heero and Duo in the room, she got up and closed the door. Sally hadn't moved from her seat. Une sat down again.  
  
"I'm going to say this once, and only once."  
  
Heero swallowed. He'd never realized before just how intimidating the woman could be, even on the side of peace.  
  
"Whatever it is that's happening, or not happening, between you two...FIX IT, and fix it now, because now that we have Heero back, I have my two best men together again. I need cooperation between you two, not squabbling. I have to depend on you both!"  
  
"I..." Heero went to speak, but his sentence didn't come out. Noticing Sally watching him, Heero felt very nervous. Duo still sat, cooly acting like nothing was wrong but refusing to face him. "Yes, Lt. Une."  
  
"Here," Une said, slapping a twenty-dollar-bill on the table. Go get some coffee across the street. I don't want to see either of you back here until you're smiling and ready to work for me. This is serious shit, and I'm not going to be responsible for screwing it up because of a personality conflict."  
  
Sighing, Duo turned to face Une, thenlooked at Heero again out of the corner of his eye. He stood, taking the bill off the table, then turned to leave. "Come on," he said with dejection. Heero rose from his seat and followed Duo out the door and down the hall, leaving Sally and Une.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

"So...go ahead. Talk." Duo said when Heero finally got him to listen. They were the only words that had come out of Duo's mouth the whole way out of the Preventers building, across the street and into the coffee shop other than "What do you want?" when they were standing at the counter, ordering their coffee.  
  
Heero replied, his tone annoyed. "You know, you could be a little more interested in what I have to say to you, instead of acting like all you want is to get away from here."  
  
Duo was startled by Heero's comment. "Since when do you even give a rats ass what I think, or anyone else for that matter. I'm surprised you're even here right now. Surprised you didn't just take command of the situation by telling Une that 'everything would be satisfactory,' and that you'd deal with me in your own way so that I wasn't a hindrance to the project."  
  
"That's just the point, Duo."  
  
"What point."  
  
"If you'd let me explain..."  
  
"Fine. Explain away." Duo blew on his coffee, plain with cream and sugar, so that he could take a sip. They were seated at a corner table for two out of the way of the main counter traffic. He kept his gaze from meeting Heero's.  
  
"I want to start by apologizing for bailing out on you like I did after the Eve War. I know I should have said something, but..."  
  
"You're damn right you should have said something." Duo's eyes were filled with hurt as he leaned down close to the table, bringing himself close enough to Heero so that the other man could hear the yell in his whisper.  
  
Heero lowered his head.  
  
"Did it ever occur to you that I might be really looking forward to the possibility of us becoming Preventer agents together? Or at the very least, staying in touch with you? Damn it, Heero...you know you four are the only friends I have now. They sent Trowa on assignment with Quatre, like we didn't see that one coming, and me and Wu, well...it just isn't the same, Heero. You were my partner that last year. You were the one I got to know better. You were my friend, whether you wanted to be or not, and I think that lays a certain amount of responsibility on you to at least tell me if you're going to blow me off and disappear like you did." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, then had to look away again to hide the building emotion in his eyes.  
  
"You're right, Duo. And you have every reason to be upset. But you don't know the reason why."  
  
"Yeah...I can't wait for this, Heero. Go ahead. Tell me why you couldn't so much as call me on the phone to tell me that you were leaving town and we'd never hear from you again. Hell, if you would have wanted it to be a secret, you could have trusted me, and you know it. I thought we were good enough friends that you..."  
  
"I had to go back to L1."  
  
"Yeah, so what? I went back to L2. There was nothing there for me, so I came back, to work for Sally and Une."  
  
Heero's face twisted. "No, you don't understand. I HAD to go back to L1. J made me go back. Secretly."  
  
Duo calmed a little bit. "But...that can't be. We all got a call. They told us it was all over, the Gundam project, and 'Have a nice day sucker.' All the rest of us got a call."  
  
"I did too, only mine was instructions to go back, and go back quietly."  
  
Agent Maxwell contemplated his next attack. "Yeah, so, you went back. You couldn't let any of us know that you were there?"  
  
"Actually, no."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I think I was there against the collective agreement between the five of them, Duo. That's why. J didn't want any of the others to know that he'd called me back."  
  
"He held you there against your wishes?" Duo asked, his eyes widening.  
  
"In a way, yes."  
  
"But..."  
  
"He was controlling me."  
  
"How?"  
  
"When he finally released me, he removed a tiny computer chip from under my scalp. He had been controlling me most of my life."  
  
Duo sat, confused now. "So...you mean you're not the person that I really know? You're someone else? You aren't Heero _\--_ Heero was in the computer chip?"  
  
Heero smirked. "I'm still me, Duo, but I'm a little different than the me that you knew before. I'm the real me now. Someone I never got to be before."  
  
The other man shook his head in disbelief. "Uh-uh...you're putting me on. No way. You can quit the crap now and get to the real reason why you just took off."  
  
"Ask Sally." Heero looked at Duo with sincerity in his eyes.  
  
Duo stared, then turned his attention to his coffee. Stirring it around with the plastic swizzle stick that was in the cup, he watched it swirl, then put the cup to his lips for a sip. When he put it back down again, he sighed.  
  
"So what was he making you do?"  
  
Heero's face relaxed some. "Nothing. That's just it. For a year he just kept me there like some caged animal, and I did nothing other than help him with some experiments."  
  
"Tell me about this supposed mind-control that he had over you." There was still skepticism in his tone, but if Sally Po didn't question it, then he supposed it would have to be good enough for him as well. At least for now.  
  
Heero spent the next hour explaining the things that he'd been through and what he'd discovered about his headaches to Duo. When he was finished telling the story, a story that was more like a nightmare to him, and a fantasy novel to Duo, he stood and said "I think I need a refill. What about you?" Duo slid him the rest of Une's money, still in awe over the information that he'd just been given.  
  
When Heero came back with two fresh cups of coffee, Duo's cream and sugar and his own, just cream, he returned to his seat in front of his still-perplexed friend. Sliding the sugared cup across the table to Duo, Heero smiled weakly, wondering what thoughts were happening in the other young man's head.  
  
Duo shook his head. "That's some shit, Heero, you know that?"  
  
Heero nodded and smiled, sipping on his coffee.  
  
"I think now I owe you an apology, for acting like such an ass and not letting you explain."  
  
With a big grin, Heero agreed, and his lightness surprised Duo. "Yeah, I think you do!"  
  
"Now that's new."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Heero Yuy, smiling, of all things."  
  
"I think I could learn to smile a lot, as I unlearn all those other habits. But it's going to take some time. Relena says I still really clam up whenever I get stressed. Revert back to my 'soldier mentality,' as she calls it."  
  
"Hmm...yeah, I can understand that. Eh, we'll work on you. I'll take you out for some fun and get you smiling big time," Duo laughed, winking at his once-again friend. Then his look became serious. "Hey, you said you're staying with Relena now, right?"  
  
"Yeah. So?"  
  
A wicked expression appeared on Duo's face. "Damnit, man! You know how long she's been wanting to get in your pants! Heero, I have to tell you...when you disappeared, she looked like she had just won the booby prize or something. She did NOT take it well."  
  
"She wanted what?" Heero asked, straining to keep his voice low.  
  
"She wanted YOU! She wanted to lose her virginity, Heero. Come on! You mean to tell me you didn't notice they way she always behaved around you? The girl was in heat whenever you were near her!"  
  
Heero blushed, thinking back to the previous night's kiss, a kiss which Relena initiated. He hadn't known what to do, so he just kissed her back. Now that kiss made a lot more sense. "Oh hell," he said with a look of dread on his face. "She kissed me last night. We were having a pretty emotional conversation and the next thing I knew, she was kissing me. You don't think..."  
  
Duo burst out laughing. "I think she thinks she's got you right where she wants you, man!"  
  
Heero huffed out a disturbed sigh.  
  
"Do you like her?" Duo then asked. "I mean...hell, she is pretty cute. If you like her, then there's no problem, is there?"  
  
Heero contemplated for a minutes before shaking his head. "I don't know. I really don't know." He looked up at Duo. "I don't know what I want, let alone whether I like Relena like that. I really haven't had a lot of chance to think about things like that, you know? I really have no idea, to tell you the truth."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I also know this. You'll know if you like her or not. It just happens, Heero. That's why the human species keeps replenishing itself in spite of war, earthquakes and cancer. Because there is plenty of natural instinct to go around, even if you have spent over half your life with your nuts in a vice and a computer chip in your head."  
  
"Very funny."  
  
Duo smiled proudly, then almost as suddenly his face went blank as his eyes softened. "I know I was a real bastard to you today and yesterday, Heero, but I really missed you. It just...hurt, that I thought I would never see you again, ya know? You mean a lot to me."  
  
With a half-smile, Heero answered "Yeah, I know. I know now, about that hurt, and I'm sorry for causing it."  
  
There was a long, uncomfortable pause before Duo attempted to get his next statement out. "Iya...there's something..." The words became difficult so he stopped. "Never mind."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Nothing. It can wait. Just glad to have you back, buddy." The long-haired man said with a warm smile. "Glad to have you back." He pondered for another moment. "And one more thing."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Since when do you drink coffee?"  
  
Heero smiled, shaking his head slightly. "There are lots of things that you don't know about me now, Duo. Things that I'm just learning about as well. I'm becoming a bit of a different person. The person, I suppose, I should have been all along."  
  
"Well, you sure talk more than I'm used to," Duo said with a smirk.  
  
"And to answer your question, I drink coffee ever since Relena got me hooked on that French Roast she likes to keep around her office. Addicting."  
  
Duo laughed out loud. "Ah, the wonders of the mighty coffee bean! Hooked us another one, we have!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

Upon returning to the mansion that evening after his first day as a Preventer, Heero had a heavy load on his mind. While his conversation had gone well, happily, it had also left him equally troubled as he contemplated Duo's words about Relena. Then, besides his personal life to consider, he also had his new responsibilities, as he and his partner had been immediately thrown headfirst into the Lunar Base investigation. Une had been more than satisfied that the former partners had managed to mend their bridges over coffee that morning, and seeing that they were getting on well once more, assigned them to begin their surveillance immediately.  
  
It was during dinner, when they usually discussed whatever was going on in the world or in their lives, that Relena suggested going out again, to blow off some steam and relax after what had been a trying day for both of them. She briefly mentioned the fact that she was aware of Heero's first assignment, but it was the last thing that she wanted to concern herself with at that moment, wanting instead to spend a few hours being young and having fun, at least as much fun as she could, without appearing immature, that is. With the world as her audience, there was only so much that Relena was permitted to do in the public eye. Luckily, dancing at a few of the elite, more private, clubs was one of them. After all, the girl was only eighteen, and that was a fact that her mentors and aides did acknowledge. As long as she carried herself in a professional manner at all times, there was never a problem.  
  
Relena was, herself, was dealing with the problem of the Lunar Base investigation as well, after a long discussion with Sally, only from the political aspect of it all. Her job, which may have been even more difficult than the actual investigation itself, was to decide who, when, and how to tell about the questionable issue, and all the while maintain absolute secrecy and calm throughout the Earth nations. After commiserating over things with Sally all afternoon, she took the woman's advice to remain quiet for the present time, agreeing that it would be much safer for the investigation if she did.  
  
After dinner, Heero met her in the main lobby of the large home, where she was waiting and ready to go. His mind was still flooded with parts of his conversation with Duo, wondering what the other young man meant by "you'll know it if you like her," but he trusted his friend's instinct. After all, Duo, by right, had been a "real person" much longer than Heero had. So he decided to venture into the land of the unknown called romance and allow his natural human senses to guide him, as it was suggested would happen regardless, if he let his emotions rule his heart and body. Heero deducted that this was as good a time as any to start experimenting with whatever it was that Duo was talking about.  
  
While he'd never given much thought before to having a girlfriend, the idea did interest him somewhat; the thought of having a close companion was starting to appeal to him more and more, the longer he wasn't J's robot. Loneliness had always been one of the toughest battles to fight over the years, and being close to someone, as foreign as it seemed at first, was beginning to feel like it could be right, too. The question remained, though. Who? Was Relena really that person? And if she was, how would he know?  
  
Now, if he only knew how to go about this game of chase without falling on his face, Heero would have felt much more confident. Always the fearless one though, he decided to jump in with both feet anyway, to see what would happen. Simply knowing that Relena wanted to "get in his pants," as Duo had called it, made him more than a little nervous, but he moved forward with the guts of a brave Gundam pilot under mind control _\--_ willing to go where no Heero has gone before _\--_ and see what became of it all. He was sure of one thing, however. Based on the events of his last quiet moments with the girl, tonight was sure to be interesting.  
  
+  
  
Relena took him to Jupiter, an upscale teen dance club where one could get lost in the music, but not be too completely obvious to the masses as it was a members-only club. She knew most of the people that frequented the place too, many of them the teenage and young adult children of the political set. Nodding and smiling as they made their way into the loud, thumping club, Relena was cordial and collected as always, looking beautiful in her shimmering, svelte mini dress that showed just enough leg to be called stylish but not enough to cause a newspaper scandal the next day. Heero, feeling extremely out of place in his dress slacks and shirt that Relena helped him pick out, simply followed obediently behind his "date" for the evening as she lead him inside.  
  
The pair were immediately escorted to a private table in a more secluded corner of one of the rooms, and the club's manager saw to their drinks _\--_ Cokes _\--_ having them brought right over. Relena smiled at the waitress and then at Heero, and settled into the booth seat, taking a sip on her straw.  
  
"You like?" The girl called out loudly to Heero over the loud music.  
  
Heero looked around in amazement, then smiled a faint smile. "Loud!"  
  
Relena laughed. "It's supposed to be loud! It's more fun that way!"  
  
"WHAT?" Heero yelled.  
  
"I said...it's more fun when it's loud!"  
  
"OH!"  
  
She giggled, taking another sip on her soda as the song changed. Strobe lights began flashing all around the room as the dance floor filled. "Come on!"  
  
Relena slid herself out of the booth and grabbed Heero by the hand, dragging him with her to the dance floor where she obviously expected him to dance with her. As she began twisting and gyrating around him to the pumping music, he looked on, his face red, feeling too embarrassed to even try moving his body, since he had never danced before.  
  
"Like this!" Relena took his two arms before her, then started pushing and pulling them to the music until Heero finally got the idea that she wanted him to move with her. He looked around to see what the other guys were doing, and copied them, concentrating on the girl before him and the rhythm of the pulsating music until he finally figured it out and was randomly swaying and rocking and twisting right along with Relena. A shy, unsure smile appeared on his face and she smiled back at him. "See? Isn't this great?" Relena yelled out, but Heero couldn't hear her. He cupped his ear with his hand to signal that he had no idea what she had said, and she laughed and shrugged it off, concentrating instead on having a good time.  
  
By the time they returned to their corner booth to rest a while, they were both covered in sweat and breathing heavily from the energy they had exerted on the dance floor. Heero was smiling brightly, obviously having a good time, and Relena seemed to be on cloud nine, watching him. They ordered two more cold sodas, remaining for a while to catch their breath.  
  
When they did get up to dance again, Heero found himself in strange waters when the music slowed and the strobes gave way to soft spots, and the couples strewn across the floor began to get close for a slow dance. Smiling shyly, he waited for Relena to approach him, as he knew she would, since he once again didn't know what to do. He was looking for something internal to guide him, the natural instinct that Duo had mentioned, but the only thing that Heero noticed to be there were the flighty nerves in his stomach, since his brain was already telling him that this slower dance was meant to be something a little more intimate than the other dancing that they had been doing.  
  
Moving close into his personal space, Relena gently took Heero's arms and draped them around her in the correct position, then drew herself against the front of his body. Heero sucked in a deep breath, not having been this close to anyone before except for the one embrace that he'd allowed her that one afternoon in Relena's office, in his moment of weakness and confusion.  
  
"Like this," she said, her voice deep and sultry as she slid her arms around him, then began guiding him in slow steps in an even slower circle. "Don't be nervous, Heero. It's only me." Her fingers fiddled with the hair at the nape of his neck, sending a tingling sensation through his body, and Heero tightened against her.  
  
Looking around again at the others on the floor, he realized that the couples were all dancing that way, most of them even closer together than he and Relena were, as the boys all draped their heads on the shoulders of their dates, the girls all resting their heads on the chests of the boys. Some of the pairs were even kissing as they made slow revolutions on the dance floor, and when he turned back, Heero could see the dreamy look in Relena's eyes. It occurred to him at that moment that Duo had obviously been right, that Relena did have feelings for him, and he smiled weakly, still not knowing how to feel about it all. Then with a deep, satisfied sigh, she rested her head on his chest, squeezing him closer to her.  
  
Feeling completely awkward as he did, Heero gradually allowed his head to drop so that his chin rested on top of her head, and he could smell the sweet fragrance in her hair. His heart thumping from the nervousness rushing through his body, Heero forced himself to stay calm as the two slowly circled on the dance floor in time to the romantic music, his arms holding the Foreign Minister tightly, the way he knew she wanted to be held, but all the while thinking that he really wanted to let go. Whatever this feeling was that he was experiencing, it certainly wasn't making a hormone-crazed animal out of him, that was for sure, and Heero was almost certain that his lack of response to her would be a disappointment for Relena.  
  
+  
  
By evening's end, Relena was as in love with the former Gundam pilot as she had ever been, and he was equally confused. The closeness of the slow dancing had obviously stirred something awake inside the girl, something that Heero was not sure whether he was ready to face, yet he himself had failed to find any need to continue their closeness. It wasn't that he didn't want to be with her at all, or spend the evening with her...he just didn't have the same reaction that she was obviously having, and he chalked it up to beginner's nerves. She would understand, he reasoned, since thus far Relena seemed to be able to understand everything that he had been going through. She'd been a kind, patient teacher, and she would know that he just wasn't ready for an intimate relationship with her. She would understand.  
  
They were riding in silence in the limousine back to the mansion, Relena still swimming in good vibes from the club, when she turned to Heero, her eyes filled with passion and admiration.  
  
"Did you enjoy yourself this evening, Heero?" Her smile was almost drunken with giddiness in spite of the fact that the only beverages to be had all night were of the non-alcoholic variety.  
  
"Yes, Relena, I did. Thank you."  
  
She shifted around so she could face him better, and study his eyes. They were wary, almost frightened, which she attributed to all the excitement of the evening. Eyelashes fluttering seductively, Relena was so completely attracted by Heero's scent, by his natural smell, that she thought her body would combust right there in the back seat of the limo if she didn't kiss him.  
  
"Heero?" she asked, "Would you like to kiss me?"  
  
He didn't answer immediately. Did he want to kiss her? It was a very loaded question. Did he? He didn't know. He felt his sense of duty trying to kick in, trying to tell him that he should kiss her, because she obviously wanted him to kiss her, but somewhere beneath it all was the bugging feeling that it all didn't feel right to him. That she wasn't the one, even though she was beautiful and kind and smelled good. Heero fumbled his words for a moment. "I...I suppose." Duty, once more, won out. With a bright, hopeful smile on her face, Relena slid herself close beside him and waited expectantly, her heart thumping with excitement as their eyes met in the darkness of the car. Heero did nothing, only looked at her.  
  
"Is...there something wrong?"  
  
He blinked. "No. I'm sorry. I was just...thinking. Nothing's wrong." Heero sighed. Then he leaned forward, as she had done the night they were sitting on his bed, and touched his lips softly to hers. He breathed in sharply as he did, smelling her sweet breath and guiding his arms to thread loosely around her like he had seen the other boys in the club doing, and as he did, his own heart pounded with what could only be described as fear.  
  
His eye remained open as hers closed, she leaning deep into him, reaping everything out of that one little kiss that she could, until something stopped her. She pulled back and opened her eyes, looking uncomfortably at Heero. For a little while, they said nothing as the car continued on, the back screen up so that no one could see what was going on in the passenger section of the limo. She lowered her eyes in recognition.  
  
"You don't feel the same way about me, I gather." It was a statement and not a question that Relena uttered in a hushed, disappointed voice.  
  
"I-I don't know what I feel right now, Relena. It's too soon, I think. I..." He stopped and looked away, knowing that he had hurt her feelings somehow, even though he did nothing except what he thought she wanted him to do. "I'm sorry, Relena."  
  
The girl smirked, then sat back against the leather upholstery. "It's OK, Heero. I should be the sorry one. Rushing you into something like that. It's just that..."  
  
"Duo told me that you've felt this way about me for a long time."  
  
Although he couldn't see it, Relena's cheeks turned so red that heat radiated off them. She tried to hide her surprise with a chuckle. "He did, did he? Well, I guess nothing gets past Duo, then, that wise guy." In the pit if her stomach, a knot was forming as she suddenly felt like a complete fool, having pined over Heero for as long as she'd known him, over three years.  
  
Heero sighed. "He told me something else that I didn't understand, until tonight, that is."  
  
"What did he tell you?" She was almost afraid to hear Heero's next statement.  
  
"He said that when I find the right person, I'll know it. That it's human nature to know it automatically."  
  
Relena pondered Duo's advice momentarily. "Well, I suppose he's partially right. It happens. Not always, but it happens."  
  
"How do you know that I'm the right person for you, Relena?"  
  
She laughed again, her blush returning. "Don't make me explain this Heero, please?"  
  
He smiled a little smile at her, flashing his eyes, the very eyes that had always mesmerized her, and she couldn't deny him what he asked.  
  
"Oh...alright. This is really embarrassing, you know, but I think that's a part of it."  
  
"Being embarrassed?"  
  
"Well, sort of. It's like this feeling that no matter what you say or do, you feel a little embarrassed in front of 'that person,' because all you want is for everything to be perfect. Everything you say, everything you do. And this feeling inside that...I don't quite know how to explain. But I know, I know because when I am around you, Heero, my heart leaps and jumps and gets all fluttery, and there's this feeling right here," she put her fingers on her stomach just below her ribcage, "that gets all queasy. And here," her fingers moved to over the center of her chest, "gets all funny-feeling too." Relena laughed. "You can't really describe it _\--_ it's something that has to be felt to be understood."  
  
"Like Duo said."  
  
"Yeah, I guess. Like Duo said."  
  
They were quiet again while Heero's mind raced and Relena tried to guess what he was thinking.  
  
"You feel all that when we're together?" Heero asked.  
  
She nodded, barely noticeably, then turned away. "I guess you...don't, do you?" Her tone was flat and disappointed.  
  
He did not answer her.  
  
"It's OK, Heero. You don't have to feel bad about it. I mean, there's a whole world of people out there for both of us. I'm sure everything will work out for us the way it's supposed to."  
  
He looked up. "You aren't angry at me?"  
  
"How can I be angry? I'm sad, if that's what you mean, but how can I try to make you feel for me when you don't? That would be ludicrous."  
  
Heero breathed a relaxed sigh, letting it out slowly so as not to make the girl feel too self-conscious at his relief. "I appreciate that, Relena."  
  
She smiled. "Just promise you'll stay my friend at least?"  
  
Heero smiled back.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

The following day the surveillance mission of the Lunar Base began, with Duo and Heero first making a visit to the "high power," to see what they could see. They didn't see anything, but there had apparently been an anonymous tip that there was a shuttle that would be leaving the Earth for the moon, probably a shuttle loaded with smuggled supplies, which interested the Preventer organization greatly. What was also particularly interesting was that whomever these people were, that were supposedly carrying out illegal activities at the closed-down Oz military base, they already had enemies willing to spill their secrets to the Preventers. With that in mind, and not knowing who or what they were dealing with, the investigation was labeled even higher priority, making it a considerably more dangerous investigation.  
  
With plain-clothes agents watching all of the smaller shuttle-ports closely, the two partners were sent to observe the main port, the one right in Brussels, where the bulk of the larger shuttles arrived from the colonies and other locations in space. Even though a quiet entrance at a less busy port could possibly be the intended destination, Sally's guess was that it would be the larger port, since a supply shuttle bound for space at one of the smaller ports would stick out like a sore thumb. At the main port however, it would blend in with all the other supply shuttles that constantly arrived and took off throughout any given day. Heero and Duo were sent to watch the traffic that was moving in and out of the port.  
  
The long-haired man got up from his uncomfortable seat facing the window view of the cargo-loading area at the shuttle port. "I'm goin' to get some coffee. You want some?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. No sugar. Thanks." Heero didn't change his gaze from the window as his eyes were peeled on the crew loading up a shuttle that was scheduled to leave for the L4 cluster.  
  
Duo disappeared down the busy corridors of the shuttle port, his keen eyes alert as well, watching everyone and everything, while maintaining a good level of casualness. He was dressed in a pair of well-worn jeans, a pair of work boots and a T-shirt that said "smile if you think I'm gorgeous," as he played the part of Joe average, who would be waiting for a person, or a package, to arrive that day as he stood in line at the coffee bar to get a couple of cups for himself and his partner.  
  
As he waited for the return of his friend, Heero checked his private email account on his laptop computer once more before shutting the system down for the third time that morning. He looked up in front of him to check the cargo terminal tote board for departures and arrivals again, then rose to check the windows on the other side of the long, wide hallway as well. Once he was satisfied that he hadn't missed anything, he turned to walk back to his seat facing the main shuttle dock. Duo was returning now with two steaming cups of coffee, complete with the little cardboard cuffs that kept your hand from burning. He also had a little wax pastry bag with him that contained a couple of blueberry muffins that looked too good for him to pass up.  
  
Sitting down heavily beside Heero, Duo handed him one of the cups. "Anything?"  
  
"No." Heero blew steam off the coffee before attempting to sip it. His expression contorted as he burned his tongue anyway on the first mouthful.  
  
"Here." Duo handed him a muffin wrapped in a napkin. "We never got any breakfast this morning."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
For a few minutes, the agents sipped coffee and ate their muffins, all the while maintaining a relaxed watch on everything that was going on around them. People shuffled in and out of the terminal, most of them donning some sort of uniform since this was, after all, the cargo loading area and most of the passenger shuttles were on the other side of the building. Every now and then a special package or crate would be unloaded directly into the terminal where security would scan it and approve it before release to whomever had been waiting for it, but for the most part, all cargo was unloaded on pallets, by skid loader, into the nearby warehouse. There, trucks usually arrived to pick up newly arrived goods, or deliver, if they were items shipping out, and it was this operation that was being watched by the two Preventers, keeping an eye on what was being loaded onto the outgoing shuttles.  
  
Heero cleared his throat. "Relena took me out dancing last night." His face began to redden at the mere mention of his previous evening's activities.  
  
"Ah! I told you!" Duo said with a chuckle. "She thinks she's got you, lock, stock and barrel, Heero."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"How did it go?"  
  
Heero paused. He stared out at a small shuttle being loaded with what looked to be pallets of bags of animal feeds. "I guess it was alright. I didn't know how to dance. She had to show me. It was embarrassing."  
  
Duo laughed. "Oh man! I can just picture it now...you, dancing!"  
  
"OK, very funny." Heero interrupted, his blush spreading across his face and over his nose now.  
  
"Did she make you slow dance with her?"  
  
There was a sigh as Heero turned to face his friend with a silly smirk on his face. "Yes, she made me slow dance with her."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And what?"  
  
"You know."  
  
"No, I don't know. That's my whole damn problem, Duo!"  
  
"What happened after you slow danced?" Duo leaned back in his seat and crossed his leg over the other knee. Having finished his muffin, he casually propped a magazine in the space it created and started to flip pages.  
  
"We danced some more, then left, since it was getting late."  
  
"And?"  
  
Heero shot Duo an annoyed look as he continued to leaf through the magazine, one of the complimentary travel magazines found all over the shuttle ports that advertised the shuttle companies and all tropical vacation destinations they could take you to if only you could afford it. "She wanted me to kiss her. In the limo, on the way back."  
  
"Did you?"  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Duo didn't say anything for a few moments, as his tongue seemed to have gotten thick and dry in his mouth. It was as if he hadn't even heard Heero's answer, as he concentrated on the magazine in his lap, not seeing the pages but concentrating at the same time, but he did eventually look up to face his friend. There was a strange look in his eye. Almost a look of disappointment, although Heero didn't seem to pick up on it.  
  
"Did you...want to kiss her?"  
  
"I told you already. She wanted me to kiss her."  
  
"So you kissed her because she wanted you to, and no other reason?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh." Duo looked back down at the magazine, then up again. "Did you...feel anything? You know...remember what I was telling you yesterday? About instinct, and things feeling right?"  
  
Heero dropped his head in embarrassment. As he did, a sinking feeling occurred within the depths of Duo's being as he anticipated the other man's answer. "I really disappointed her, I think."  
  
"Huh?" Duo said, a little surprised. He hadn't noticed, but his heart rate began to increase ever so slightly as fleeting ideas of possibility began to form in his mind.  
  
"We talked, she and I, about what you told me. She agreed with what you said. That there's a feeling that should be there when you have an attraction to someone. She tried to explain it to me..."  
  
"The way she feels about you?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"How do you feel about her?" This time Duo did notice his elevated pulse as he asked the question. He felt a slight sweat forming at the base of his neck, under the ribbed collar of his T-shirt, and prayed that his discomfort with the conversation wasn't obvious. He prayed that he would survive his sudden and urgent need to vomit. There ya go, Heero! Perfect example of how you're supposed to feel when you're stuck on someone. See that mess on the floor there? YOU did that to me!  
  
Heero let out a long sigh, reliving the awkwardness that he'd felt when he told Relena that he didn't seem to feel any attraction to her the evening before. "I had to tell her that I didn't feel anything. Nothing like you said I would, at least."  
  
Duo let out a breath that he didn't even realize he'd been holding. Heero noticed, but made no reaction.  
  
"There was no 'electricity,' or 'natural urge' there at all. I feel really bad about it too, because she was disappointed. She took it well, but I know she was really upset."  
  
"Well, uh..." Duo faltered, covering it up with a silly grin. As much as he felt bad for the girl, his pity was short lived, as it was overtaken by his own feelings of relief. "She's a big girl, Heero. She'll get over it. You did the right thing." It was a small victory for Duo, yes, considering that just because Heero didn't like Relena, it didn't necessarily mean that he didn't like any women, but it was a victory all the same, and right now, that was all that mattered to him. Score one for agent Maxwell.  
  
Then they were both silent, pondering, until Heero broke the strange mood by pulling his computer out again to check email. Duo chuckled. "Some things will never change, eh Heero?"  
  
+  
  
They remained to wander the shuttle port for the rest of the day with no results, having monitored each and every outbound shuttle and not finding anything out of the ordinary, which was not surprising. For the next three days they repeated the same schedule _\--_ they stopped first at the "high power," just to take a peek at life on the moon, then returned to the shuttle port to resume observation. They picked a different location each time, so it wasn't completely obvious that the terminal was being watched, but still came up with nothing other than more of Heero's revelations of his new life, that is, until the fourth night.  
  
On the fourth night, as Heero was making his last check of the shuttle schedules that were posted on the internet, he came across something new. They'd been checking the schedules religiously for any cargo shuttles that were headed out as far as the further colonies, planning their surveillance based on the shuttles going in and out and keeping an eye on the goods being set up in their holds, but this was something unexpected. Gate 3, Dock 2, arriving at 2:11 am and departing at 3:18 am _\--_ a very ambitious schedule, even for the fastest of shuttle crews. This shuttle hadn't even been listed anywhere on the scheduled an hour ago.  
  
It was the shuttle port's responsibility to post any and all comings and goings, on not only the tote boards in the terminals, but on their internet schedule site. It was not only a public courtesy, but it was the law, so that everyone knew what was flying in and out of Brussels. This shuttle hadn't been scheduled just a short time ago, and now here it was on the list, mere hours before it was due arrive, and then subsequently depart again. Though it did happen, although infrequently, that a shuttle would change its arrival port and land somewhere that it was not originally scheduled, thereby adding a new departure to the tote board at the last minute, this seemed somewhat suspicious to Heero. An early-morning arrival and departure, previously unannounced, and it was headed to the L3 cluster, which was fairly close to the moon as the shuttle flies. Looked like something that definitely needed checking out.  
  
He checked his watch that was lying on the desk. It was 10:45 PM. As he started throwing on clothes again, Heero picked up his wireless phone that was lying beside the watch on the desk and flipped it on, keying his auto dial for Duo's number. He put the phone up to his head to hear the digitized ringing sound.  
  
"Yeah?" Duo's voice finally answered after five rings, sounding gravely and harsh. He had already been in a deep sleep when Heero's call came.  
  
"I have something. We need to go to the shuttle port."  
  
"Now?"  
  
"Pick you up by eleven-thirty."  
  
Heero clapped his phone shut and started the shutdown procedure on his computer to close it. Hopping on one foot, he struggled to get his boots on and the ends of his jeans pulled over them, then threw on a T-shirt. When he was dressed, he grabbed a pen and notepad from the desk drawer and scribbled a message for Relena, which he left on his undisturbed bed, then in a flash he was gone. In the garage of the mansion he deactivated the alarm to his company-provided car, a black Acura sport coupe, got in and drove off just as soft lights appeared in Relena's bedroom windows.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

It was a convenient thing that the Preventers headquarters had been built in the city of Brussels, close to not only the biggest inter-colony shuttle port on the Earth, but as eventuality would have it, the Foreign Minister herself, as she had taken up residence in the city as well. It made life a lot easier for not only the many employees of the Preventers organization, the majority of whom lived close enough to commute by car, but also for Relena. She'd originally started out at her family's home in the Cinq Kingdom, but she was spending more time in Brussels than anywhere else, so it was decided to move her location there and save her the repeated jet lag. Duo, who was renting an apartment outside of the city, lived twenty minutes in the opposite direction from headquarters, and it took Heero about forty minutes to reach him from the mansion. From there, they sped off to the Brussels shuttle port, the Earth's closest connecting port to the colonies and outer space.  
  
"So, this listing just showed up outa nowhere?" Duo asked. Heero's eyes were peeled on the street-lit road before him.  
  
"MmmHmm. Checked at ten, nothing. Just before bed, and there it was."  
  
"Pretty weird. You think it's just a re-direct from Geneva? I heard they were having bad runway traffic due to a staff shortage. Flu epidemic."  
  
"Hard to say." Heero answered. "Need to check it out, though."  
  
"Yeah...we'd better be careful though. Who knows what's going on here, if this /is/ something."  
  
Heero was silent, his mind going a mile a minute. The more he concentrated, the less he spoke, and the more into his "soldier mentality" he slipped. After reaching the shuttle port, they parked the car in the closest lot, then acted as casual as possible as they entered the building. At the night security check they flashed badges quickly before the guardsmen and were permitted around the metal detectors without question, since they were both armed with handguns on their person. Luckily, at that hour of the morning, there were few people lining up to get through security, so they slipped through the check and into the terminal area without much notice.  
  
Stopping in the main terminal lobby before the departures tote board, the agents looked up to confirm that there was indeed a cargo shuttle scheduled to leave for the L3 colony cluster at 3:18 am. It was on the board, right below another shuttle leaving at 2:44.  
  
"There it is," Heero said. "Flight 996 headed to L3."  
  
"Yeah. The Lunar Base isn't that far off course from the L3 cluster."  
  
"Let's go."  
  
With that, the two agents were off down the corridors of the terminal, headed toward Gate 3. Just prior to reaching the gate, Duo stopped Heero and checked his watch. It was only 2:13 am. They still had at least a half hour to wait before the shuttle would be allowed up to the loading dock, as the 2:44 shuttle was currently being loaded at Dock 2. They could see it from the terminal windows _\--_ Colonial Express shuttle L1-453. Colonial Express, like many of the other shuttle companies with regular trips to various locations, always numbered their shuttles by what colony they regularly flew to.  
  
"Wanna sit and wait? Or you think we should look around?" Duo asked his partner.  
  
"Lets wait. I don't want to cause an unnecessary commotion."  
  
"Gotcha."  
  
They walked quietly to the waiting area and sat.  
  
Nearly forty minutes had gone by before the Colonial Express shuttle was closed up and rolling away from the loading dock, its cargo hold filled to capacity with everything from crates of produce to pallets of electronic equipment and even a crate of live chickens, probably destined for one of the open-air markets on the main colony. There were plenty of upscale restaurants throughout the colonies that insisted on the freshest of foods whenever they could get them. Live poultry usually sold well on the colonies for that reason.  
  
Heero and Duo both alerted when the next shuttle could be seen as it rolled toward the building, maneuvering into position in front of the tall windows. The flight numbers on the craft were L3-996, a company called Lunar Delivery Service. Beneath the logo on the side of the shuttle was an insignia that read "To the Moon and back, safely each day." They had service to all the colonies, as well as the moon, although these days, hardly anyone made deliveries to the moon anymore, because there was nothing there since the laying down of weapons. Nothing, that is, except for the supposedly unoccupied former Oz military base, and a bunch of natural ore deposits.  
  
"Here she is," Heero said as he stood and faced his partner.  
  
"They've got the ramps hooked up. Wanna go down below and take a look around?"  
  
Heero nodded, then head off in the direction of the ramp that would take them to the ground level, where skid-loaders would be lifting pallets into the belly of the shuttle from the other side, the side facing away from the terminal. At the door to the outside of the building they came across another security guard, and once more flashed their badges to gain access to the cargo exit. Shuttle security was well used to Preventer presence at the shuttle ports these days due to the number of people that continually tried to smuggle all kinds of things, and the guard let them pass without a moment's hesitation.  
  
Once outside on the tarmac, the agents assumed the role of people who knew exactly where they were going, even though they were walking right through a restricted area. Noticing a work jacket hung up on a barrier pole along the building, Duo grabbed it and quickly put it on. He left his long, distinguishable braid tucked under the jacket. It was a jacket that had apparently been left behind by one of the Colonial Express workers which couldn't have come in more convenient if it had been planted there for him. As Duo put the jacket on, Heero realized immediately what his plan was, and followed suit accordingly. The two men acted completely at ease and at home in the surroundings of the loading dock.  
  
As the shuttle was being loaded with a vast amount of identical wooden crates, Heero disappeared around behind the rear wheels of the craft, wheels that stood taller than he was, and concealed him well. From there, he intended to eavesdrop on any conversations that might be going on among the staff of the carrier, listening for any incriminating conversation. In the mean time, however, Duo was sneaking around to the loading side of the shuttle. He stood under the wing, waiting for the skid loader to retreat away from the craft to pick up its next load, and then climbed a rickety metal ladder quickly, gaining entry to the cargo hold of the shuttle. There were other men in there, all outfit with LDS uniforms, and one immediately noticed Duo.  
  
"Hey, you! You can't be back here!" A tall, blonde-haired man called across from the very front of the cargo hold as Duo walked toward him. He started in Duo's direction. His uniform shirt bore no name tag on its pocket, but only the logo of the carrier company. Duo's blue uniform jacket said "Andy" over the left chest area in a white embroidered thread that had long since turned dark with dirt. Andy was probably really missing his jacket right about now, too, if he lifted off on the previous shuttle, as it can sometimes get pretty chilly aboard cargo shuttles. Andy's saving grace might be the chickens, though, Duo thought, since they'd have to keep the temperature of the cargo area warm enough to keep the chickens alive.  
  
"Hey buddy," Duo answered, smiling and making sure to turn so that the Colonial Express badge on the arm of the jacket could be seen by the other crew members. "I just got a call from the crew that just pulled outa here. Forgot a crate. Think you guys might have picked it up by accident, if it was just laying around down there." He acted nonchalantly, posing as a crewman simply doing his job, inspecting crates and containers as he made his way up the cargo hold.  
  
The LDS crewman met Duo half way, and seemed keenly interested in getting him off the ship as he tried to herd him back in the direction from which he came. "Sorry friend," he said with a patronizing smile. "We've checked everything here in already. Only loaded up what we came for."  
  
Duo's eyes were flitting all around the hold as he smiled agreeably with the crewman. "OK then, just had to check. You know, procedure and all that. Gotta at least tell them I looked, ya know. Keeps the supervisor off my ass...hey, that looks like it might be it there!" Duo diverted his path to a crate on the other side of the hold, purposely weaving in between as many containers as he could. Most of the pallets and crates were constructed of wood frames, and the items held within the frames were plainly viewable. That was the customary way to ship goods by freighter shuttle. These crates, on this shuttle, all contained the same thing. Every one of them.  
  
"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave." The blonde crewman said as he caught up to Duo, who had made his way over to the supposed crate in question.  
  
Shaking his head, Duo sighed. "Nah, that's not it. Oh well. Another one for the insurance companies, I guess!" He laughed as he strode past the crewman and made his way back to the opening in the hold.  
  
Climbing onto the ladder, he started to descend. "Well, thanks for letting me check. You have a safe flight now." Then before the crewman could say anything else, Duo was down the ladder and had disappeared into the cargo loading area on the ground. Walking through the way they had come, he passed the same barrier pole and replaced the uniform jacket to its perch, then trotted off to re-enter the building. Heero was standing there waiting already. Together the men turned and quickly progressed up the terminal and to the main lobby of the port.  
  
Matching each other stride for stride as they made their way back to the car, Heero and Duo exchanged nervous glances, but remained quiet until the were in the safety and confines of the vehicle. Only once the engine was running and he was pulling out of the parking lot did Heero say anything.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Duo's face was serious. "I think we have a big problem."  
  
Heero didn't answer this time.  
  
"You hear anything down below?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I think we need to have an emergency meeting at..." Duo checked his watch, "Oh...three twenty-seven in the morning."  
  
Heero replied only by punching the accelerator on the Acura.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

Sally answered the phone after the third ring. "Yes?" Her voice was scratchy and low. Blinking as she checked the clock on her nightstand, she saw that it was three-thirty five in the morning.  
  
"Wakey, wakey! Agent Maxwell calling!" Duo said, trying to be funny. "Hey Sal, we have a major problem." His voice was upbeat and cheerful, though it relayed a less optimistic message.  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"Heero and I are just leaving the shuttle port." Duo toned himself down to speak in a serious tone now.  
  
"What's happening?" Sally's voice began to sound more awake as she regained her faculties.  
  
"Well, seems as though we've had an unscheduled, last minute departure for the L3 cluster..."  
  
"Which is close enough to divert to the moon base," Sally said, interjecting.  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Did you get a look at the cargo?"  
  
Duo laughed. "Whooo-yeah did we! Not gonna be happy about this, Sal."

"What are they shipping?"  
  
"Looks like titanium to me. Lots and lots of it. Cargo hold was full...and it was one of those super-shuttles – as big as they come."  
  
There was a moment of silence on Sally's end. Titanium was one of the two ingredients used in making none other than gundanium, currently the strongest metal alloy having been created by man. The titanium, which was available only on the Earth, was combined in a special annealing process with iron ores that were mined in various places throughout the universe, forming the armor-like metal. One of the places known to have many untapped ore deposits was none other than the moon. All someone would have to do was start mining for it and there would be ample supply of iron ore.  
  
It was not illegal to buy titanium, since the metal was used to make many things, from jewelry to medical instruments to computer parts, but it was usually purchased in small lots, not huge freighter loads. If large quantities of titanium could be gotten from elsewhere, then shipped to the moon, it was very possible that someone could conceivably begin manufacture of enough Gundanium to build an entire mobile suit army if they so desired. Bottom line though, there was no reason imaginable why large quantities of titanium should be shipping anywhere to the colonies or otherwise. Since her last check a few days ago with the Records of Enterprises department, there were no known legal businesses or plants off the Earth sphere that required such supplies.  
  
"Great," she said sarcastically. "So apparently, it's true. There's something going on up there."  
  
"Looks like it."  
  
"Alright. I'm on it. I'll meet you guys at headquarters in about an hour. In the meantime, I'll call Relena and Une. Do you know if the shuttle has lifted off yet?"  
  
"Scheduled to lift off at 3:18, but the loading docks were running about fifteen minutes behind schedule. I'm guessing that if its up already, it's only just left."  
  
"Good," she said. "Call Frank at the observatory. Have him put the high-power on all the shuttles that are leaving Brussels until he finds the one you saw, and have him watch it until it lands."  
  
"You got it, Chief."  
  
Duo was about to hang up when Sally broke in again.  
  
"Meet you in an hour. I'll pick up breakfast for everybody."  
  
Agent Maxwell chuckled. "Cream and sugar for me, cream only for my partner, please!" He slapped his wireless phone shut.   
  
+  
  
Relena hadn't been able to get back into a good sleep once she had been awakened by Heero's tire-screeching departure from the mansion, so the phone call at a quarter to four in the morning didn't startle her. She'd only been lying awake in bed anyway, waiting for Heero to return so that she could find out what was going on. And though she knew inside her that he was most definitely off on something that had to do with the high-priority case he was on, the woman in her had caused an immediate feeling of jealousy in her being, even though she had no clue what there was to be jealous over.  
  
Analyzing herself, Relena figured out that she felt the way that she did probably due to the fact that she now knew she was not 'that special person' to Heero, and as mature as she was being about it, it still bothered her. It still filled her head with delusions of Heero with some other girl or woman, enjoying himself, and quite honestly, it hurt a little bit. After the phone call though, a strange sensation of relief washed through her as she picked herself out of bed and began to dress.  
  
+  
  
Sally assembled everyone for an emergency meeting to discuss Heero's and Duo's findings. By the time they all caught up at Preventers headquarters, she carrying a tray of convenience store coffees and a box of doughnuts with her as promised, it was a little after five in the morning. Dawn was just poking its head over the horizon as she placed the carrier tray in the middle of the table, and it was littered with an array of sugar packets and stir sticks as they spilled out from the tray and all over the place.  
  
Frank, the night-shift astrologist at the observatory, had already located the shuttle in question by the time Sally rung him up from the main meeting room, putting him on the big video display so that everyone could see and hear him. He transferred video from the high-power to the screen so that the shuttle could be seen on its path to wherever it was going, and Sally made it his job to confirm if and when the shuttle landed on the moon. The trip would take at least half the day, so for the meantime all they could do was watch, but she directed Frank to keep himself and his shift replacement, Sarah, planted in front of the giant telescope and report any findings to her immediately.  
  
"In the mean time, people, we need to plan out what we're going to do here, in the event that this shuttle is going exactly where we think it is." Sally sat back down and looked across the table at the sleepy group before her.  
  
Une, who was sipping on her black coffee, took off her glasses to rub her tired eyes with her dainty fingers. "I think we should plan to send a shuttle by the end of the day."  
  
"What if it doesn't land on the moon?" Relena asked, her gaze fluctuating between Une and Heero. Heero was deadpan as he looked at Une and Sally, seeming to not even realize that Relena was in the room.  
  
"Regardless of where the shuttle lands, if it's carrying that much titanium, we need be suspicious and to follow it, because there is no use for that much titanium on any of the colonies. There are no registered businesses that have claimed a need for such shipments, and it's a widely known fact that if you have the equipment, all you need is titanium and iron ore, and you get gundamium. Now, that creates a real problem, with the iron ore deposits that we know are on the moon. While I can't believe someone would be so stupid as to try this right in front of our eyes, I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone did."  
  
Sally interrupted. "We need to find out if someone is mining for iron ore up there."  
  
"Wouldn't we be able to see that with the high-power?" Duo asked, looking around the room.  
  
"Not necessarily, since mining can be done underground, right under existing structures," Heero said, contributing to the conversation. Both Relena and Duo turned toward him at the same time. Duo sitting next to his partner, suddenly looked across the room to the Foreign Minister seated across the table, and when their eyes met, he turned away quickly. Heero could feel their gazes on him momentarily, but brushed them off. "If someone is mining, my guess is they're doing it right from under the floors of the Lunar Base."  
  
Then Une began once more. "Someone's got to go sniff around. That's the only way we're going to know for sure. I say wait until Frank can tell us where the shuttle lands, and then follow it to get a close up view of where that shipment is going. Regardless of where that shipment actually does go though, we need someone on the moon to see if anything's happening there."  
  
Sally hesitated, then said "I'd have to agree. We need to get a closer look at this before the lid is blown off this investigation. And I'll get a team right on trying to find out where this titanium is being supplied from, to see if we can find out who the buyer is." Turning to Relena, she added, "Do you think you can still hold off saying anything about this to the Leaders? I'd prefer to keep it quiet, but of course, we don't want to hold anything back either."  
  
"I can comfortably stay quiet until we know for sure what is going on up there." Relena's eyes rolled toward the ceiling, then back down as she spoke. "But once it is confirmed what the intended use of the shipment of titanium is, I have a responsibility to share the information with the Nation's Leaders."  
  
"Very good," Une said, turning toward Heero and Duo. "I suggest the two of you prepare for a liftoff later today."  
  
"Will do," Duo said, turning to his partner.  
  
"Understood," Heero said.  
  
Relena was watching Heero now, secretly wishing that he didn't have to go back to space, back to what could potentially become a sticky situation for him, but she knew she was being silly. She smiled graciously at him, eliciting no response this morning. He looked very much the part of the old Heero, J's Heero, right now, as he listened to the details of his mission and didn't even take the time to share a smile with her.  
  
"Heero?" Relena asked, finally, hoping to gain his attention and possibly snap him out of this mood.  
  
He turned to face her, then relaxed some, flashing a quick smile in her direction. He seemed to realize that he had stiffened up again, the way he used to get, and corrected himself. Heero then turned to Duo and offered the same attempt at proving that he was on top of things.  
  
After a couple of final comments, the private meeting adjourned, with Sally headed straight to her office and Une headed to the elevators. The coffee shop across the street was due to open in a few minutes, and she desperately needed more caffeine.  
  
As they walked out the meeting room door and started for the elevators as well, Relena called out from behind the two agents. "Heero?"  
  
Heero turned to face the girl, and Duo waited for him.  
  
"Do you think you'll have time for a half-hour lunch with me before you leave today?" She was smiling warmly, hoping that he did, since he'd surely be gone for days on the investigation.  
  
"I...uh..." Heero began, before being interrupted by his partner.  
  
"I dunno, Heero, buddy. We have a lot of things to get done in a short amount of time. I was kind-of thinking about just ordering in for us, so we can plan out our 'attack' with Sally and Une." Duo was looking straight at Relena as he said it, not giving Heero a chance to argue, because in reality, they didn't have much time.  
  
Heero looked at Duo, then at Relena. His mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out at first. Then finally he said "Duo's right, Relena. I'm sorry. I know I won't be around for a couple of days, but there really is a lot to do before we lift off."  
  
"I see," the girl said in response, as her eyes remained glued not to Heero's but to Duo's. If she didn't know any better, she would swear that the long-haired man was challenging her, yet in a very subliminal way.  
  
"I-I'll make it up to you when we get back, OK?" Heero offered.  
  
Relena smiled. It was a slightly embarrassed, defeated smile. "That would be fine, Heero. Thank you."  
  
The tension in the hallway was thick enough to cut with a knife as the three stood there, an unconscious dialogue happening between Duo and Relena that Heero was witnessing, but not completely understanding. He knew something was transpiring between the two of them, but it didn't make any sense to him, why Duo would care if he took thirty minutes time to have lunch with the girl, or for that matter, why Relena would try to keep him tied up when he was about to leave for outer space on an important investigation. Then before he could give it any more thought, Duo was pulling on his sleeve to go.  
  
"C'mon, Heero. Lots to do, remember?"  
  
Heero turned to his partner, then looked at Relena, blushing. "Yeah...you're right. I apologize, Relena. We'll have lunch together when I return, OK? I'll call you later before we take off."  
  
That look of defeat still present on her face, Relena nodded. "Please do. I'll be worried otherwise." Her eyes, moving from Duo to Heero, then back to Duo, displayed the thought process going on in her head as Duo lead Heero the rest of the way down the hall and to the elevators.  
  
+  
  
It wasn't until they were safely inside the elevator car that Duo let out a deep breath, then rubbed his face with his hand, smearing his features. He couldn't believe he'd just had a standoff with Relena like that...over Heero! He hadn't intended on it...it just happened, when she asked Heero about having lunch. Something in his head just decided that he didn't want Heero to have lunch with her, especially since Heero had already admitted to both he and the girl that he held no feelings of attraction to her.   
  
Realistically, there was no reason for him to do what he did, but his gut reaction took over and confronted her, leaving Duo shaking his own head in wonder. He turned to Heero and gave a weak smile.  
  
"Everything alright?" Heero asked, noticing the flushed look on his partner's face.  
  
Duo's skin reddened more, embarrassed. "Oh yeah. Fine. Everything's fine."  
  
Heero studied Duo's eyes. "What was all that out there?" He took Duo off guard, making him defensive.  
  
"You haven't got time for lunch dates, Heero, or have you forgotten about things like schedules and investigations and the fact that we're on the heels of a potentially very dangerous mission here?" Duo's deep, dark eyes held Heero's tight, and they seemed to be hiding something. Then the elevator stopped.  
  
Heero said nothing more as the two agents made their way out of the elevator.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

The plan was simple enough. Shuttle to the moon and land inconspicuously, to see just what was what. Executing that plan was a different story altogether, though. If things went their way though, the plan should go off without a hitch.  
  
They lifted off in a small, two-man, unregistered shuttle for the Lunar base just as the sun was setting on Earth's Northern hemisphere, armed only with some surveillance equipment and their own personal weapons. The point of the mission this time was only to infiltrate the base and see what the situation was, and then plant a wire somewhere in the building that would be monitored. Where they planted the wire would depend on what was actually going on at the base, but it was networked with one of the nearby satellites, which would beam its signal back to Preventers headquarters on the Earth.  
  
The flight to the moon would take an estimated eighteen hours in the craft they were flying, leaving the two agents ample time to rest beforehand. Heero never did remember to call Relena before he left. Duo didn't remind him too, either.  
  
By the time the small shuttle was out of the Earth's orbit and propelling nicely through zero-gravity, Duo, who had lifted them off, activated the auto-pilot function in the ship and leaned back to relax with Heero, who was resting in the co-pilot seat. Heero's gaze was glued on the windshield as he stared at space passing them by.  
  
"Sure brings back memories, eh Heero?" Duo said in a quiet voice, reminiscing of the times when the two of them were patrolling together in the days before the Eve War.  
  
Heero didn't answer, but only kept watching out the windshield. For a few hours, both agents closed their eyes and slept lightly, only waking on occasion to observe the instrumentation panel before drifting back off into a shallow slumber. It was difficult to do more than that in the uncomfortable space suits anyway, but they grabbed whatever shut-eye they could, since they had no idea when their next chance to rest was going to be after they landed on the moon. When they had been dozing on and off for about four hours, Heero finally sat awake in his seat, his head leaned back against the headrest, turned in the direction of his partner. For another hour until Duo woke by himself, Heero simply watched him sleep, his thoughts full of contemplation.  
  
It was the incident in the hallway at headquarters, before they took off for space, that initially got Heero thinking. He hadn't had an opportunity before now to sit and ponder it, but it was a weird event for sure. It almost seemed as though Duo had been trying to push Relena away from him. Like he was jealous of her, for some reason, but Heero didn't understand why. After all...he had already made his peace with the long-haired man, explaining himself. They'd 'made up', for all intent and purposes, and were resuming the friendship that they had begun cultivating before Heero had disappeared after the Eve War.  
  
Then the look on Duo's face when they were in the coffee shop flashed across his mind. The expression that he'd had while telling Heero about how sad and hurt he'd felt, that Heero had taken off without a word. Wufei, on the other hand, who was also a very close friend, said that he himself had been annoyed about it, but Wufei seemed to be able to forget about it all with the snap of a finger and an apology. For some reason though, the circumstance of his absence had festered within Duo for the entire year that he'd been gone. Why? Why had Duo looked like he was about to break into tears when he expressed the fact that Heero was his one, good friend, and he thought he would never see him again? Was that just Duo's normal, over-dramatic reaction, as Wufei had suggested or was there something else bothering him about Heero's absence?  
  
It wasn't until Duo's stirrings snapped him back into attention that Heero was able to get a glimpse of what the answer might be. As the other agent yawned, then stretched in his pilot's seat, his arms reaching up above his head and his back flexing, Heero found himself watching intently. When Duo's tired, violet eyes did finally open and look straight at him though, something remarkable happened. Heero felt a tiny little twinge in the pit of his stomach, and his cheeks got a little warm. His eyes met Duo's, and for a few moments, all they did was look at each other.  
  
Duo smiled a sleepy little smile. "Hey."  
  
Heero once more didn't say anything as he watched his partner coming awake. His piercing blue eyes remained fixed on Duo until he had to turn away, feeling self-conscious about his staring.  
  
Duo, noting the bit of tension, started to make small talk, since they were both awake now, and still had at least a dozen hours to go before reaching their destination.  
  
"So, Heero," he began, readjusting himself in the pilot's seat and making a visual check of the instrument panel. He never continued. He didn't know what to say.  
  
"Yeah?" Heero asked, still waiting for whatever his partner was going to say.  
  
Duo shrugged. "I dunno...was just rambling. What do you want to talk about?"  
  
Thinking for a minute, Heero came up with something. "What did I miss while I was gone?" They hadn't actually talked about that yet.  
  
"Oh, not much," Duo said casually. "Well, you already know that Sally and Wu are an item, right?"  
  
Heero chuckled. "Yeah, I found out about that. Who'd have guessed, huh?"  
  
Duo smiled. "Yeah, tell me about it! But he's really been a lot happier since they got together. He told me once, when we were talking, that Sally has helped him fill a big void in his life that he realized he had been fighting for years. Now, I don't know what the hell that means, and he wasn't letting on, either, but whatever, right?"  
  
"I know what it means," Heero said.  
  
"Yeah?" Duo waited for Heero to tell him, but instead he remained quiet. "Well, are you gonna tell me or what?"  
  
"I don't know...it was told to me in confidence."  
  
"In conf...hey! And I'm not good enough to know his secret but you are?" Duo said, teasing his partner.  
  
"If he wanted you to know, he would have told you himself."  
  
"Hmmpf," Duo said, feigning to be annoyed. He was curious though, and he didn't try to hide that. "Come on, Heero...what did he tell you?"  
  
Heero sighed. "If I tell you, you have to promise that you wont say anything."  
  
"I promise."  
  
"I mean it. I don't like making a habit of telling other people's secrets..." /but something is happening here between us, and I have the need to share something with you./ Heero hoped he wasn't about to do something very wrong by betraying Wufei's trust in him, but he had confidence that Duo could keep quiet.  
  
"I mean it too. Now...you gonna tell me or what?" Duo turned sideways in his seat, leaning over his folded knees in anticipation like a school kid about to hear the latest gossip.  
  
"What he meant was that Sally has filled the place of someone he was close to, who died."  
  
"Well, duh! Of course that's what he meant, but who?"  
  
"His wife."  
  
Duo perked with a surprised look. "His _wife?_ "  
  
Heero nodded.  
  
"Wufei was married? No shit."  
  
"It was a customary arranged marriage. Before he piloted his Gundam. She was a freedom fighter as well. Got killed because of what she believed in."  
  
"Wow. I never had a clue." Duo said, relaxing again.  
  
"I don't think any of the rest of you did. He doesn't like to talk about her." Heero said.  
  
"How come he told you?"  
  
There was a pause before Heero spoke again. He fidgeted with the zipper on the front of his suit, lowering it a few inches to let some warmth escape from inside the material, cooling him. "We both told each other some things...just before the end of the Eve War. When he was confused about what cause he wanted to fight for. We had some very intense conversation."  
  
"Sounds like it," Duo said, then was silent.  
  
Heero, feeling a little bit traitorous now for telling Wufei's secret, used the chance to change the subject. "I thought you moved back to L2 with Hilde Schbieker? I didn't expect to find you living on Earth."  
  
Duo seemed genuinely surprised at the question as his face took on a flushed look. "Yeah, well...some things aren't mean to be, I guess. I mean, I love the girl, don't get me wrong. I'd do anything for her. I just don't love her _that_ way, if you know what I mean."  
  
"Like me with Relena?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess you could compare it to you and Relena." Duo turned to the instrument panel again, only he kept his gaze there this time, not wanting to look at his co-pilot for fear of giving himself away. "She's a great girl and all that but...something...I just never got that feeling inside with her."  
  
Heero's eyes remained on his partner's form, watching as the conversation seemed to cause the other man to become uncomfortable. However, In spite of this, he felt the need to pry onward. "That feeling...have you ever felt it before, Duo?"  
  
"Have _I_ ever felt it before?" Duo smirked and dropped his eyes, chuckling to keep his face even remotely straight. "Yeah. I've felt it before. Once. That's how I knew Hilde wasn't the one." When he looked up to face Heero, Duo's cheeks were an embarrassed hue of pink and his shimmering eyes reached far into Heero's very core.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

"OK, lets do this right," Heero said as he prepared to bring the shuttle into docking position at the designated place _\--_ the only place they could land and get away with it _\--_ suspended by a magnetic current in the outer skin of the shuttle to the underside of the main docking ramp. The craft's cloaking device was on, blocking any radar from finding it, and all communication lines with the ship were off as well, lessening the possibility that they could be found via radio signals coming from their communications equipment. It was the most precarious landing that Heero had ever attempted in his young life, and beads of sweat formed on his brow as he concentrated to maneuver the ship into position. Then a funny smirk appeared on his face.  
  
"What is it?" Duo asked.  
  
"Nothing. Was just thinking that I feel like Han Solo making this crazy landing with this shuttle."  
  
"Han _who?_ Oh, yeah, right...that guy in that old space movie." Duo chuckled, a fleeting memory dancing on the edge of his mind about another Solo that he once knew of, briefly threatening to pull his emotion down into a spiral, but his attention was quickly averted back to business by the shudder that went through the ship as Heero engaged the magnetic generator.  
  
When the ship was secured, floating in its magnetic trance a few feet away from the steel entrance gate to the Lunar base, Heero powered down all unneeded equipment, leaving the only the main generators running, and got out of the pilot's seat. Together the two agents grabbed the backpacks containing all their surveillance equipment and slid them on, adjusting them so the loads were balanced on their backs. Then tossing Duo a clear, plastic dome, Heero began to zip up his suit in preparation to fasten down his helmet as well. Although there was an atmosphere actually /in/ the Lunar base and its structures, there was none outside the boundaries of the hanger doors, so they would need to space-walk into the building before they could remove the helmets. Nodding that he was ready, Duo waited for Heero to lead the way.

+

Gaining entrance to the base had been reasonably easy. With the shuttle suspended out of the way, it was hidden well enough that someone had to know it was there to discover it. They had planned an arrival time for the middle of the night, lessening the chances of being found as they made entry to the hanger, and found it to be pitch black, creating a bit of ease among the two agents.  
  
"God, I hate this place," Duo said, remembering the last time he had an opportunity to be there. As Oz's prisoner, they had taken liberties with him to get him to talk, leaving him in quite a bad condition by the time Heero had arrived to break him out. Just the smell of the place, burned into his memory banks, was making his skin crawl as he tried to push away bad memories.  
  
Heero didn't respond, but only looked ahead as they made their way further into the hanger and toward the doors that he knew would take him into the main parts of the base. Then safely into the realms of the man-made atmosphere of the base, he unlatched his helmet, waiting for his suit to depressurize, testing to see if he could breathe. Everything seemed fine, so he lifted the helmet off. The agents hid the helmets behind a stack of empty wooden crates.  
  
Taking a look around, Heero commented to Duo. "Someone's definitely been up to something up here."  
  
"These are just like the crates that were loaded onto that shuttle in Brussels," Duo said, in a low voice.  
  
Slowly the two agents began to make their way along the back of the hanger, searching through the crates to see if they contained Titanium, but they were all empty. That wasn't surprising, though, since from what they both remembered, this specific hanger was merely the loading dock for the base _\--_ the place where the mobile suits had been being built was further into the building.  
  
Slinking through shadows, they crept to the entranceway to the main building, which would take them to the other hangers as well, and went in. Being careful not to allow the door to click closed too loudly, Duo held his breath as he let the cold steel lean on him before he let the door slip closed. Heero was a couple of yards ahead already, moving toward a second hanger when Duo caught up to him, and they went through a second set of doors.  
  
What they found inside the doors was frightening, to say the least. Standing in neat, precise rows of shimmering metal in the dim, safety-lit hanger were tens, maybe hundreds, of brand new mobile suits of a shape and description that neither agent had seen before. They were nothing like any of the stock machines that Oz had been manufacturing during the wars. They were cleaner, more streamline, like a Gundam but not quite, as they lacked the distinctive gladiator-like features that the Gundams each bore, but standing all lined up in a small army the way they were, they were just as impressive as any Gundam had ever been.  
  
"Ho-leeee shit," Duo said under his breath as he stood before the lineup of mobile suits with Heero beside him.  
  
Heero stepped forward to get a closer look. Reaching out a hand, he touched the brushed metal surface of the suite before him. "Feels like it," he said, meaning that it felt like gundanium, which had its own feel to it. Although it was a metal, to the touch, gundanium felt somewhere between cold, hard steel and pliable plastic, a strange sensation altogether. It was the "feel" of the gundam, and the composition of the alloy that made them able to withstand temperature fluctuations in either extreme without either shattering from cold or heating up so high as to endanger the pilot, and this machine in front of Heero definitely had that feel to it. This was no ordinary mobile suit.  
  
"Lets check them out," he said, his eyes staring up at the open hatch above him. All the suits stood with their hatch doors open. Then in a flash, Heero was scaling the front of the suit with the guide rope and entering the cockpit. Duo took Heero's example and climbed aboard the suit beside it and explored every inch of the machine's cockpit.  
  
Jumping back down to the hanger floor when he'd finished his inspection, Duo turned to Heero and said "This does /not/ look promising. We'd better hurry up and do what we have to do here and get word to Sally."  
  
Heero said nothing, only grunting a response, causing Duo to reply with a smart remark.  
  
"Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say."  
  
Heero glared at his partner.  
  
+  
  
The agents returned to the corridors between the hangers, only this time they followed them to where Heero knew would lead to the place where the mobile suit factory had been. What they found there was just as startling as their discovery of the hanger full of mobile suits.  
  
Entering the factory, Heero's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked upon the former Oz mobile suit factory, now retrofitted and updated, and running at full power. From the shadows of the corridor, he and Duo looked on in amazement, watching as a full crew ran huge, noisy machines that worked hot, glowing sheets of metal, presumably gundanium, into shapes that would eventually become mobile suit parts.  
  
What shocked him the most though, was what he saw in the center of the huge warehouse-like room. There was a hole in the floor of the factory, an orange lit-up hole that seemed to go straight down into the surface of the moon as evidenced by the soil walls that could be seen under the layers of concrete that had been dug up. There were pipes and tubes of all sizes running down into the tube, probably oxygen supplies and exhaust tubes, and a conveyor belt rising from smack in the middle. As crude as the contraption looked for these times of technology, what someone had done here was fashioned a simple mine conveyor, and it seemed to work fine as bucketfuls of /something/ were being lifted to the surface. There the buckets were being dumped into a pile, where a group of men shoveled the substance into what looked like a cleaning machine, and from the other end it came out pure, rinsed clean of the moon's soil, ready to be melted down and turned into alloy. Heero imagined the trails and tunnels that probably existed below the surface of where they were standing, tunnels to various minefields that were being tapped from underground, and a concern went through him.  
  
"It's ore," Duo said, his voice shaky with nervousness. "They're mining for ore, just like you said."  
  
Without saying a word, Heero stepped out into the glowing, well-lit room and started to make his way over to the side of one of the metal forming machines that was closest to them. Concealed only by the deafening noise of the factory, he intended on getting a sample of what it was that was being pulled out of the mine, so that the lab could confirm exactly what it was that they were creating there in that plant.  
  
"Heero!" Duo yelled in a whisper, trying to get his partner's attention before he got too far away. "Where the hell..." Sighing, he remained in the shadow, deciding that it was probably better to just watch from afar than risk both of them being discovered. Duo was somewhat annoyed, though, as he watched Heero expertly stealth his way between machines until he was able to pick up a small morsel from the floor, a pebble that had rolled away from the main pile as it was being dumped. In a few more minutes he was back at Duo's side, fingering a chunk of ore before him.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Duo said in exasperation.  
  
"Needed a sample," was all that Heero said, his face hard and emotionless.  
  
"Obviously! Next time, can ya at least tell me before ya just waltz off into the center of disaster there?"  
  
Heero said nothing, and put the particle in a pouch pocket on the inside of his suit.  
  
"Yeah, still the same conversationalist as always," Duo answered curtly, letting Heero see that he disapproved of his actions. He certainly did get a reaction this time as he found himself aggressively pinned by the shoulder of his space suit against the corridor wall, Heero's face mere centimeters from his own.  
  
" _What_ is your problem?" Heero said in a whisper through his teeth, his eyes once more cold and harsh like spheres of blue ice, the way Duo always remembered them being.  
  
"Damnit, Heero! Look at yourself, man! You aren't J's toy anymore. We're in this together now! You can't just go doing things without at least telling me. You just can't do that anymore! You're gonna wind up getting one of us killed, and somehow I have the feeling it won't be you!"  
  
Heero froze at the sound of Duo's words, realizing at once that he had allowed his training and habit to take over his actions without thinking about the fact that he didn't have to be a loner anymore. Sally wouldn't /tolerate/ him behaving that way, either. Relaxing his grip on Duo, he let go of his suit, dropping his eyes to the floor in shame. Duo roughly pulled himself out of Heero's grasp, then began straightening his suit, looking on at his embarrassed partner, not uttering a word.  
  
"I'm sorry," Heero finally said, still ashamed to meet his friend's eyes. "I...I'm sorry, Duo."  
  
"It's...it's alright."  
  
Heero looked up, his eyes more relaxed and apologetic.  
  
"Look," Duo said, solemnly. "Lets hurry up and do what we have to do here, and get out of here, OK?"  
  
Heero nodded, then started off down the dark corridor from where they originally came.  
  
+  
  
By the time the two agents made it back to their concealed shuttle, they had been on the Lunar base about five hours, exploring everything they could explore without being discovered. The mining operation seemed to never stop, and they assumed that it was being kept running twenty-four hours. This enabled the men to snap ample photos of the scene with the digital camera they had with them, pictures that sent to headquarters as soon as they were safely back in the shuttle and away from the base.  
  
A couple of bugs had been planted as well, one behind a wall unit bookshelf in what looked to be someone's office, another in the control booth in the mobile suit storage hanger, and yet another behind some permanent piping along the wall in the actual are that the mining was going on. It was hard to tell if these were good places or not, or whether any good information would be obtained from these bugs, but they would have to do, since the base was beginning to wake up for another day's criminal activity by the time they were securing the last one. They had just enough time to high-tail it out of the storage bay where they entered, and jet away before the base was crawling with people once more.  
  
It was after sending off the last of the digital images to headquarters via the shuttle's onboard computer system that Heero apologized again to Duo for the way he'd behaved earlier.  
  
"It's OK," Duo said once again, only more accepting of the apology this time.  
  
"I'm trying...not to be a one-man army anymore, like I used to be," Heero said, his eyes wandering his lap, too embarrassed to look at his partner.  
  
"I know you are, Heero. Just..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Just be cool, I guess. Remember, they put us together because we work well that way, you and I. Always have."  
  
Heero smirked. "Yeah, I guess so."  
  
"Either that, or they know that I'm the only one suicidal enough to put up with your crap." Duo smiled a teasing smile as he checked a few gauges on the instrumentation panel, readying the ship for auto pilot.  
  
"Do me a favor?"  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"Don't tell anyone about that little...scene?"  
  
Duo hesitated, then turned to look at Heero. "Don't worry, man. I won't. I know things are tough right now for you. Just...try and not go soldier on me, OK? I really like this new Heero...the one that actually has an interest in talking to me about things other than the mission. You've already spoiled me."  
  
Heero smiled. "Gotcha. Thanks."  
  
"You bet."  
  
+  
  
In another sixteen hours and thirty-seven minutes, the little shuttle touched down once more in Brussels.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

"Then that settles it," Sally said before the room full of Preventers. "We're going to have to do something about the problem before they have a chance to create havoc somewhere."  
  
The photos that had come in from Heero and Duo's shuttle had been startling to Sally and Une. They realized that something was going on behind the backs of the Preventer group, but never had they imagined that things could be this progressed. Sally couldn't understand how this organization had managed to stay so well hidden for so long, long enough to manufacture enough mobile suits to do some serious damage, and she penciled in a time the following week for the two of them to meet once more with the head agents to figure out where the organization was lacking. The sole purpose of the Preventers was to monitor what was happening _\--_ this scenario created a potentially very dangerous and very embarrassing situation for Sally Po and Lady Une.  
  
Lady Une jotted notes on a pad as she studied the images being displayed on the big screen on the meeting room wall. "The shuttle, the one that was tracked as it left Brussels a few days ago, eventually landed on one of the more remote colonies on L3 before lifting off again, a few hours later, for the Lunar base. It arrived there shortly after you had already begun your return trip," she said to agents Yuy and Maxwell.  
  
"So they're diverting to decrease suspicion," said Duo, his eyebrows knitting together as he thought. "Any way we can find out from LDS that shuttle? Maybe they know something that will help us, because I have my suspicions about it."  
  
Sally nodded to Alexa, her administrative assistant. "Look into that today please. See if you can get any information at all on the customer that shipped those crates." She turned to Heero. "And we've had the sample you brought back analyzed. Iron ore. Those are gundanium suits alright."  
  
A nervous rumble spread throughout the room as agents mumbled to each other. "Do we know yet who or what the organized group is?" A voice called from across the room.  
  
Her face writ with concern, Sally could only shake her head. "No clue. We've been hoping to hear something on one of the planted wires, but nothing yet that has identified them."  
  
"I think we know enough now to know that we have no choice," Une said, taking off her glasses so that she could rub her eyes with her fingers. "We have to intervene. As you all well know, mobile suit manufacturing is illegal, and we have evidence that it's taking place, so I think it's time. We're going to have to send teams to the moon to disarm the base and bring in whoever is organizing the efforts up there."  
  
Sally contemplated in silence for a few minutes, gazing around the room, then back at the screen on the wall, where she stared, disheartened, at the lineup of gundanium mobile suits in the hanger at the Lunar base. With great disappointment in her voice, she said "I have to get in contact with the Foreign Minister. She was unable to meet with us this morning due to a previous engagement, but I will impress upon her that it's time for the Preventers to take action. Une, are you available for the rest of the day?"  
  
"I can move some things, yes."  
  
"Everyone, please be prepared for the handing out of assignments within the next few days." With that, Sally stood, gathered her notes and turned to leave the room, followed shortly by Lady Une. After the two women had gone, the others began to rise, some of them leaving immediately, others mingling long enough to discuss the morning's turn of events. Heero made a bee-line for the door, where he caught up with Duo and Wufei outside in the hallway.  
  
"So this is kinda going to hell in a hand basket, wouldn't you guys say?" Duo asked sarcastically.  
  
"Well, I've got to go get a few things done before the shit hits the fan," Wufei said, hesitating momentarily before turning to leave for his office where he still had some reports to finish up before getting elbow deep into something else. "With Quatre and Trowa in the field, that will undoubtedly leave the three of us in command of the teams that get sent."  
  
Heero didn't say anything since his need to control the feeling of apprehension that was coursing through him preoccupied him.  
  
"I don't know about you two, but I'm going to drown my jet lag and my sorrow in a nice strong cup'a joe. Anybody wanna come?" Duo smirked, acknowledging that he was needing to clear his mind of the inevitable for a few moments time, since the Lunar base was all he'd been able to think about for the past three days.  
  
After a hesitation, Heero spoke up. "I'll come."  
  
Duo grinned. "I already knew _you_ would. Coffee-a-holic!" he said to his partner, then turning his attentions to Wufei. "Wu? Interest you in a hot beverage?"  
  
"No thanks guys, I'll have to pass on this one. Too much to get done, and I'm going to at least try to get Sally out of here for an hour for lunch in a little while."  
  
"Good luck with that one, man. You're gonna need it. She's the Webster's definition of a workaholic."  
  
The three comrades walked to the elevator and waited together, stepping in when a car appeared and the doors opened. Wufei pressed 10, for his floor, then automatically pressed 'L' for his two friends headed for a breather across the street.  
  
"OK, catch you guys later," Wufei then said as the elevator let him off on his floor.  
  
"Later, Chang," Duo answered.  
  
"See you, Wufei," Heero added as the doors closed once more and the car began its descent to the lobby.   
  
+  
  
When Relena arrived at home that evening after a long morning of meetings and a long afternoon of Sally, she was not in a very good mood. Trudging her way to her office to deposit her briefcase she began yanking off her low-heeled shoes, flipping them across the room as soon as she opened the door. Dropping the case beside her desk, she noted the blinking light on her phone indicating that there were messages and chose to ignore them for the time being. She reemerged into the hallway to head to her bedroom in the other part of the mansion. Hips swaying, ponytail bobbing, she padded in her nylon stocking feet through the carpeted corridors. Then exploding into the plush, comfortable room, she was stripping herself out of her business skirt and blouse without even seeing that the door was closed, flinging garments off and about the room until she was wearing nothing but her bra and panties. Digging in the bottom of her chest of drawers, she pulled out the nastiest, rattiest T-shirt she owned, threw it on the bed, then slammed the dresser drawer shut. Then digging through a small pile of clothing on the floor near the bed she uncovered her most comfortable pair of well-worn, faded, ripped denims and tossed them on the bed too.  
  
"Everything OK?"  
  
Relena startled, nearly leaping out of her skin. "Oh! Heero. You scared me."   
  
He stood at her open door, still dressed for work, curious as to what the commotion was that he could hear from the other end of the hall.  
  
"I heard a bunch of noise," he said, concerned, since Relena normally wasn't a very loud person.  
  
"I...It's been a really bad day." She stood nearly naked before him, just looking at the man in her doorway. "I'm glad to see you back, Heero. I hope everything went well on your trip."  
  
"I apologize for not calling you before we left. I was...distracted. A lot on my mind and I didn't remember until we were a couple of hours out already."  
  
A slight frown appeared on the Foreign Minister's face, a frown that she desperately tried to force into an understanding smile. It came off looking like a twisted little smirk instead. "That's OK, Heero." Then for a few moments, neither of them said anything until Heero cleared his throat, looking at the almost naked girl, then away from her, his face turning a little bit red.  
  
"I should probably go," he said, his blush spreading.  
  
"Oh no! No, Heero, don't leave. I was thinking we might get a bite to eat and have a few minutes together, that is if you wouldn't mind. Are you hungry?"  
  
"I don't mind but...you need to finish getting dressed first."  
  
It finally occurred to Relena that she was standing in the middle of her bedroom, still clad in nothing more than a push-up bra and a string bikini panty, and all of a sudden her face went as red as a plump, ripe strawberry.   
  
"Oh God," she said as she grappled for her T-shirt and threw it on. Heero smiled, amused, and turned to walk down the hall a little ways as the embarrassed girl finished throwing on her jeans.  
  
+  
  
Dinner was simple that night, at one of the local diners in the city. Heero had developed a taste for diner food, since they usually had a vast menu selection _\--_ and always some of the best coffee in town. He ordered a cajun grilled chicken salad. Relena ordered the same, only tuna steak instead of chicken.  
  
"Sally briefed me on everything that you and Duo found on your trip," Relena said as she sipped on her iced tea. "I'll be making an announcement to the Nation leaders the day after tomorrow, after the Preventers presents its plan for intervention to me."  
  
"What do you think is going to happen? What will you tell them?" Heero's eyes were clear and sympathetic, knowing that Relena was looking at a very tough job ahead of her, announcing to the leaders that the discovery of a rebel organization has been made, and they are already gearing up for some kind of standoff.  
  
"The truth. There's nothing else I can tell them. I just have to hope and pray that you all can get this dealt with quickly and as quietly as possible, to keep morale up."  
  
"I understand."  
  
Relena played with the end of the straw in her glass, pushing around a lemon seed in the bottom of the vessel with it. "So...is everything back to normal between you and Duo?"  
  
He was hoping she wouldn't go there, but here it was. Heero cleared his throat. "Yes, we've managed to patch things up OK, I think."  
  
A pause. "That's good."  
  
Heero smiled a weak smile, then let his eyes fall to the paper placemat on the table before him. He tried to concentrate on Joe's advertisement for 24-hour Towing Services in the greater Brussels Metropolitan area.  
  
"You know...oh hell. Forget it. I'm being silly." Relena decided to forego her thought.  
  
"What is it."  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"No, really. Tell me."  
  
She flickered an embarrassed smile and acted like she was changing the subject. "Did Duo happen to mention how Hilde was doing? I haven't heard Duo talking about her in quite a while." It was underhanded, she knew, but maybe Heero wouldn't recognize it as a pathetic attempt at gathering information?  
  
"Duo...doesn't see Hilde anymore."  
  
Relena pretended to act surprised. "Oh! Really? What happened? Now, I thought they were so good together, those two. What a shocker!"  
  
Sighing, Heero answered her, his still-developing, emotional alerts going off. He was learning quickly though, that was for sure. "He said...that it just wasn't working out for them. She wasn't 'the one' for him."  
  
"No 'tingly' feeling?" Her reply edged toward mild sarcasm.  
  
"I guess not."  
  
"I see."  
  
Silence ensued, only broken when the waitress brought their salads to the table. Relena proceeded to charge right into her food with gusto. Pouring the dressing over the salad, she forced her disappointment away, covering it all up with a polite smile. "Is your salad OK?"  
  
Nodding, Heero said that it was, then looked up at the girl before him, acknowledging the feeling of threat that she was experiencing. The threat that not only did he _not_ feel "that way" for her, but that she was beginning to think Duo _did_ feel it, only for _HIM !_ Even Heero was beginning to think that Duo did, because the signs were beginning to show themselves, even as oblivious as he knew he could sometimes be. Heero just didn't know how he, himself felt about it all. The issue was beginning to make his head spin. Then lowering his head again, Heero concentrated on his salad so that he didn't have to say anything else for the time being.  
  
Later on, when they had returned home, they spoke more about the impending problem at the Lunar base, and the subject of romance did not come up again, as Relena was becoming afraid of her suppositions. For now, at least, it was easier for her to try not to think about things, especially at a time when her concentration was needed elsewhere. There was no room for emotions to get in the way right now. The last thing she needed was to screw something up, making it plain to the rest of the Nation leaders that she was not mature enough to handle her business and put her personal life aside. A lot for any eighteen-year-old, she realized, but she _was_ the Foreign Minister, after all. "You could always resign," she would continually remind herself whenever her personal feelings and sense of duty clashed. Most of the time that got her back in check.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

At the start of the workday the next morning, Heero appeared outside Duo's office door bearing the gift of two cups of aromatic lattes. He stood, waiting for his partner to notice him, but Duo was either deep in thought, or asleep, as he faced out his office window; Heero wasn't quite sure which.  
  
"Ahem."  
  
Swinging around in his chair, Duo looked up with surprise. "Oh, hey Heero. Come on in." He did.  
  
"Wake-me-up?" Heero handed over a cup.  
  
"Thanks. I was just spending a couple of minutes...thinking."  
  
"That what the burning smell is in here?"  
  
The seated man smirked. "Good one." Heero sat in the chair against the wall, next to Duo's desk. For a long time he said nothing, only looked between his latte and his partner, until Duo couldn't withstand the silence anymore. "Something on your mind?"  
  
"Well...kind of. I don't know." Heero adjusted himself in the chair, but could only gaze at his friend for a while longer.  
  
"Yeah?" Duo felt a tension in his partner's aura, and it made him uncomfortable.  
  
"I don't know...I just...Duo, I'm confused."  
  
"How so?"  
  
Heero blushed. "Just...all this stuff with Relena. It's really getting to me, because I know she's really upset with me about it all."

"Has she said that?"  
  
"Well, no, she hasn't come right out and said it but, I can tell. She...she's been asking a lot of questions about you and Hilde, and...I can just tell that she's disappointed in me."  
  
Duo sat for a moment, inhaling the sweet smell of his latte. "Heero, you shouldn't feel bad if she doesn't 'do it' for you."  
  
"I know, but I can't help it. I just do."  
  
"So, she keeps asking about Hilde?" Duo fidgeted in his seat now.  
  
"About you in general," Heero said, hiding his eyes, not wanting to make contact with his partner's.  
  
Forcing a calmness in himself, Duo asked "I wonder why?"  
  
"Because," Heero laughed, blushing. "Because I think she thinks that you have feelings for me. I think she feels threatened by you."  
  
Duo coughed on a mouthful of latte. Then trying to act natural he said "She does, eh." He thought for a moment. "You know Heero, I don't want to stick my nose where it doesn't belong but...if she's making you uncomfortable like that, have you given any thought to getting your own place?"  
  
Heero sighed. "I've given it a little bit of thought, yeah." He eyed his partner for reaction, sure that what he was seeing was indeed 'reaction,' as Duo squirmed before him. Equally, his own gut wrenched as the conversation went on.  
  
"I mean, if you don't feel that way about the girl, and she keeps hounding you about it, well...I'd tell her to get lost but, seeing as how you want to stay good friends with her, and you are living in her house after all, I can understand not wanting to piss her off. Getting your own place might be your only answer. That way after the initial ' break up', there shouldn't be any hard feelings, right?"  
  
"I suppose. But..." Heero stopped. He sipped his latte and tried to collect his thoughts. Tried to put together the words he wanted to say in his mind, but nothing came to him except his conscience telling him that he was once again treading on uncharted territory.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
Heero shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know what I want, Duo. It's all just giving me a big headache."  
  
The long-haired man smiled sympathetically, and with some relief that the spotlight had faded for the moment. "Give it time, Yuy. You have friends, a good job...life is looking up. Someone will come along. _You'll know it_ when they do. Trust me."  
  
"I...I do trust you, Duo." _I trust you all too well, because I think that someone has come along and he's seated right in front of me._ "I guess I just have to wait until that spirit kicks me in the ass."  
  
Grinning, Duo sipped more on his latte, all the while his brilliant eyes never leaving those of his partner's, and he realized that there was something in them today that was different than before. Recognition. Realization. Understanding, maybe? An entrapped butterfly tickled the insides of his stomach as his head once more filled with thoughts of coming clean with his attractive partner _\--_ telling him the truth, that for the entire year he was gone, he had been pining for him privately, and as badly as Relena had. That he'd hoped to be able to express his feelings to Heero, but he was afraid to, not knowing how the other man felt about him _"in that way,"_ or what he even thought of the idea of an unconventional relationship.  
  
It was something that they had honestly never talked about, the question of preference. Really, before Heero had returned in his "new and improved state," it was a subject that might never have even come up between them, due to the fact that Heero didn't like making a habit of letting people get to know the "real" him. As it turned out, /he/ didn't even know the real him. In respect to the other guys though, Trowa and Quatre's relationship had just kind-of been accepted by everyone in the group, and didn't seem to cause any concern to Heero, but Duo deducted that that was simply because Heero just didn't think about love or affection, period.  
  
Additionally, Duo often questioned the likelihood that in a group of five guys, each from a different colony and with a different story behind them, /four/ of them would turn out to be gay. Maybe it was something in the training? Or exposure to the Zero system, since they'd all been subject to it. But that wouldn't explain the fact that Wufei was, undoubtedly, straight as an arrow. Quatre, on the other hand, was as queer as a two-headed quarter. Trowa though, Trowa was a little confusing, and Duo suspected that he was willing to accept love wherever he felt comfortable with it, kind of like himself. Perhaps the unorthadox tendencies of the former gundam pilots stemmed too, from being in positions where you had to accept who and what you had, without complaining that it wasn't what you wanted. But deep down inside Duo realized that these ideas were all silly, because he knew that a person's preference was born with them, Zero system or no Zero system, so that blew most of his theories out of the water. _He_ was able to be with anyone, male or female. Quatre was gay, Trowa was...Trowa, and if anything, it was all just a really crazy coincidence and nothing more. Adding Heero to the "non-conformist" mix would surely make it even _more_ of a coincidence, but there was no other viable explanation to it all.  
  
But back to figuring out Heero, the only thing that gave Duo a smidge of hope that he could beat the odds in the game of love was the faint glimmer of recognition in the blue-eyed man's gaze looking back at him, equally confused, but seeing what was happening as well. At least what was happening from Duo's point of view, that is. His heart in his throat, Duo could only nod in agreement and try to convey in his own gaze that he wanted more...more than just a friendship from his partner and friend. He wanted companionship too. He wanted everything. Time would just have to tell, in this case.   
  
+  
  
Less than thirty-six hours later, Preventer's headquarters was a flurry of activity as plans for deployment of a group of teams were being laid out. The discovery of the activities at the moon base was, apparently, still a secret, but as soon as Relena made her report to the Nation's leaders, it would be splattered all over the news within hours, so the chance of correcting the problem quickly and with secrecy was about to be cut short.  
  
As the Foreign Minister arranged for an emergency meeting of the Leaders in Brussels via teleconference, Preventer units were being assigned and shuttles and supplies were being readied for what was being called "Operation Stealth Brigade". Sally and Une, who would be in attendance at the Foreign Ministry's emergency meeting, would try to convince the Leaders that immediate action to try to disarm the base was the easiest and least violent way to end any skirmishes before they started. With the digital images that had been downloaded from Heero and Duo's spying, and other evidence, including some interesting wire feeds that conformed the fact that an attack on the Earth Sphere Nations was indeed eminent, there was a landslide vote to take action now, rather than wait for something serious to happen. It was agreed that with the proof that they held, the Preventers had the upper hand, and should run with it in an effort to maintain the peace on Earth and the colonies. In this way, even if the use of force was required to take the base, it would be isolated, and dealt with before the masses even realized that there had been a bona-fide threat.  
  
By four o'clock local Brussels time, Sally and Une received the "OK to go" from the Nation leaders, and the first of the Preventer shuttles were cleared to leave for the Lunar base.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

The organization, as they'd found out with a lot of sleuth work and some payola thrown in for good measure, called themselves the Freedom Alliance. Comprised of a group of former Oz supporters and White Fang members, what they wanted was simple _\--_ they wanted a better economy on the smaller colonies, and they wanted it now. Completely understandable, since the universal economy was currently in a downslide, partly due to the ending of the past wars _\--_ the Nations were still in the process, years later, of rebuilding themselves and reinstating trade with one another, which promised better times in the future _\--_ but apparently not soon enough for this group who thought they had their own remedy for it. To start another war. Very few laborers would remain jobless in the time of war. Families, those that weren't victims of it, would be fed by it, and since they now held the only running mobile suit factory, Freedom Alliance was in perfect position to make themselves heard. War or better aid for the populations of the smaller, less profitable colonies. That was what they wanted.  
  
When the Preventer shuttles, six of them, were less than four hours away from reaching the Lunar base, Preventers headquaters sent a transmission to the base, ready to strike a deal with whomever was in charge. Basically, it was a plea for the offending party to relinquish the Lunar base without resistance to the teams of officers that were on their way, and a meeting would immediately be scheduled with the Foreign Minister and the Nations leaders as well. The negotiations were stated that all personnel working at the base were to be taken into custody by the Preventers officers until they could be safely transported to Brussels and an assessment could be made of the Lunar base and its activities. If they chose to comply, there would be special considerations before anyone was tried for conspiring to commit war crimes against peaceful nations, and every effort would be made to work things out to benefit all parties involved.  
  
As she suspected though, Sally's requests were met with total opposition. Freedom Alliance was ready for a war and they knew it, and they also knew that they were the only ones in possession of mobile suits now, giving them a very strong upper hand.  
  
"I urge you to reconsider your position and accept our invitation to discuss these matters with the Nation Leaders," Sally offered a last time from her video link in her office in Brussels while Une sat by to the side, listening to everything that was said. Each of the shuttles en route to the moon were linked and watching as well, awaiting their final commands. When she was repeatedly met with responses of hostility instead, she gave the final order after Freedom Alliance's video link with Preventers headquarters was terminated.  
  
Sighing deep and long, she opened up a universal com link with all six shuttles. "Preventer units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, please continue as commanded. Proceed to the Lunar Base for the execution of Operation Stealth Brigade as planned. Good luck to you all."   
  
+  
  
As six shuttles continued on to the Lunar base, each one delivering one unit of ten officers, a pilot and one commanding agent, Heero's insides began to twist into knots. His was to be the third unit to arrive, the first two acting as decoys to attract the attention of whomever was either expecting or not expecting the arrival of Preventer shuttles. The following four units were to arrive half an hour later, radar shields up, unseen, so that they could storm the base by surprise. Once there, the second four groups would round up all personnel at the base and shut down the entire mining and manufacturing operation, then take Alliance soldiers into custody for transport to Earth. It was a clean plan if it worked, and though he realized that there was always an "if" involved with raids like this, something inside him didn't sit well. Something inside was making him anxious, and he thought it was probably the fact that now he was responsible for a lot more than just himself. There were ten other men and women awaiting his command, as well as five other shuttles full of the same, and he'd have to stay alert and cautions. As Duo had put it, he couldn't "go soldier" on these people, because if he did, he was risking their lives.  
  
Then, there was one other thing that bothered him, too. _Duo isn't with me._ Duo wasn't with him. Duo was commanding the fourth shuttle. Wufei the fifth. They wouldn't be working together as they had during the Eve Wars, and sometimes during the Colony wars as well. He knew Duo was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, perfectly able to handle any situation the same as he, but Heero still felt uncomfortable. He still felt as though he needed to stand between the other man and any danger that might be present, even if he didn't know why. Before it had always been his sense of duty _\--_ it was, after all, his job to be the one putting himself at risk. J had made it that way _\--_ made it so that Heero feared nothing at all, and simply got the job done. This was different, though, because that sense of duty was this time replaced by genuine concern and care. He truly cared about what happened to the other man, more so than any other person in the entire six units. _I can't let anything happen to Duo...he's...my friend. I...care about him._ Heero's thoughts processed that statement over and over again as they flew closer to their destination. _I care about him. No...I don't care about him...I...I..._ Heero could feel the feeling then, but he still couldn't bring himself to say it in his thoughts, the idea scared him so. _He's the one who gives me that feeling, that tingling inside. It's him! I can't let anything happen to him. I can't...I don't have time to be worried about him right now, but I can't let anything happen to him! I can't! I can't! I can't because I..._

_+_

Thoughts running rampant through his mind now, Heero was startled when one of his officers alerted him that the first two units had landed at the Lunar base and were being taken into custody by armed soldiers of the Alliance, as planned. The games were about to begin.  
  
+  
  
Aboard the fourth shuttle, Duo sat waiting, watching, as the first two shuttles began their descent to the Lunar base, all the while forcing away his thoughts about his partner who was aboard a different craft. They'd been separated because they were two of the best people to assume unit leadership, since they had more combat knowledge than the rest of the officers. If things got bad, and there was always a possibility that they would, it was them that would be able to get the rest of the officers out and home safely.  
  
Watching as the Lunar base loomed closer on the ship's radar, Duo let his mind wander briefly, sitting in the co-pilot's seat as one of the officers in his command piloted. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about the confrontation, and the only thing running through his mind was whether he would ever see Heero again after it. _He's going to do something stupid. He's going to go soldier, and do something stupid like blow himself up. Ah, God, please don't let him blow himself up. Please...gimme a chance first, before you go letting him blow himself up? Let me at least tell him how I feel, even if he does blow me off. At least he'll know the truth._ Duo didn't even realize he was pleading out loud until his pilot broke in.  
  
"Sorry, what was that, agent Maxwell?"  
  
Duo snapped back into reality. "Oh...nothing Simms. Nothing. Was just...thinking, is all." Quieted, Duo forced himself to once more pay attention to what was going on around him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

The first two shuttles had been taken into custody as planned, and were being held at gunpoint, also as planned. The two commanding agents, Marks and Stimmler, were attempting to negotiate with the Alliance leaders, although unsuccessfully, still as planned, as the rest of the officers were disarmed and lead away from the entrance hanger and further into the base. When the large group of Preventers and Alliance soldiers disappeared through the hanger doors, four other officers who had been hiding in the shuttles appeared, easily overwhelming the few guards that had been left in the hanger after the diversion. With the two soldiers being held and two Preventer units guarding the doors from the hanger into the base, a signal was sent to the other shuttles that the coast was clear and everything was proceeding according to plan.  
  
Within minutes, the second group of shuttles was docking inside the near-deserted hanger of the Lunar base, officers rushing to assemble before their commanding agents, equipment in hand and ready to gain control of the base through whatever means necessary. Five minutes time was all it took for the men and women to gather and once they were all accounted for, they set off, unit by unit, to explore the further regions of the base and surround the remaining Alliance soldiers.  
  
As they all moved off, Heero craned his neck around to search for a sight of Duo, and he found him leading his own unit in the opposite direction across the floor of the hanger to gain access to a second entrance to the main part of the base. Duo had been searching out a glimpse of Heero as well, and for s split second their eyes met across the busy hanger, but with danger in the air, that split second was all they could afford. Before anyone else would even realize what the men were looking at, they had turned their gazes away from each other, each satisfied that the other was ready and able to do what needed doing. Then leading his unit into the corridor to the mobile suit hanger, Heero lost sight of his partner for good.  
  
+  
  
As per their assignments, Heero's unit was to enter the mobile suit hanger and begin by rounding up any of the Alliance guards that might be there, and then follow through by one-by-one deactivating the mobile suits through removal of their main celonoids _\--_ a big job for ten people to do, but it was a necessary precaution that needed doing if they wanted to take control of the base. The suits had to be rendered unusable, for everybody's safety, and removal of the celonoid was the easiest way to achieve that. Within no time, two officers had their guns on the hanger guards as Heero and the eight remaining officers began to one-by-one climb the rows of gundanium mobile suits, each time descending with a celonoid. The officers guarding over the Alliance soldiers pushed them forward, their guns aimed and ready, making the soldiers collect all the celonoids in big plastic bags while officers dropped one after the other their way.  
  
On the other end of the base, at the back of the mining and manufacturing plant, Duo's unit, along with a second unit, had the factory workers confined as officers began shutting down the operation. Wufei's unit had moved on to try to find whatever information systems were at work at the base, and they were to hach the computers and harvest the information, including whatever they could find of mobile suit plans and blueprints. In the factory area, the mine workers were lined up along one wall where some Preventers officers had their weapons pointed at them, and Duo and the rest of the men scurried from machine to machine, aided by the factory foreman held at gunpoint, powering down everything in the large, warehouse-like room. Slowly the deafening noises of the mining and manufacturing operation began to subside as the last of the machinery was shut down and it wasn't long before silence could be heard echoing through the chamber. Their mission complete, Duo stood with his unit, who guarded the Alliance men, waiting for his next command via the handheld radio hung on his belt. The command would be one of two, and he grew impatient waiting to know which.  
  
+  
  
They wouldn't budge. Freedom Alliance leaders stood their ground, maintaining that they would rather die defending the base and their cause than let a bunch of "space police" take them to Earth, where they were positive they would not be heard. They had the factory. They had the mobile suits. They had ammunition. They also held the guns in the faces of the Preventer decoy units, thinking for a little while that the twenty or so people in front of them were all that was there. Then one of their own came bursting into the room and tipped them off.  
  
"There are more of them! Dozens more! They're shutting down the factory!" The man's face was sweat and grime covered, one of the men in the pit of the ore mine, working himself to the bone for what he believed in when the raid happened, and he'd somehow managed to sneak away to warn the leaders. "They have all the rest of us at gunpoint!" For a little while it seemed to be a standoff, both groups eyeing each other tensely, but as it is usually the case, people who feel they have nothing to lose rarely act with caution. One of the Freedom soldiers raised his weapon to the temple of one of the Preventer officers in a very convincing threat that the Freedom Alliance was not about to let the officers get away with anything. For a few minutes, all time seemed to stop as neither Preventer nor soldier seemed to know what to do next, or who would make the next move, which could undoubtedly end some lives. Then at that moment, standing purposely behind two other officers to partially hide him, agent Riley decided that it was time. He carefully bent his long, middle finger down across his palm to press the inconspicuous button on his wristband _\--_ the warning signal that would turn the raid into a full-fledged war if an officer was even as much as scratched. Within a split second of him touching the button, the command from shuttle 2 could be heard over each of the officer's radios in the room, as well as everywhere else in the building.  
  
"All units, we are assuming 'Plan B,' I repeat, we are assuming Plan B. Please proceed immediately with Plan B. Time is...T minus thirty minutes and counting." Startled and momentarily confused, the party holding the decoy units at bay hesitated, and as they did more Preventer officers burst into the room and the bullets began to fly.  
  
"Shit, shit /SHIT!/" Duo said under his breath, understanding now that negotiations were apparently not happening, or that the Alliance had decided to try to play desperado with the captive Preventer units. Plan B had been instated. "You heard the man! Everybody! Plan B!" Agent Maxwell sprang into action, yanking the backpack from his back as every other officer was doing, and they prepared for Plan B _\--_ destroy the Lunar Base. The directives, as decided by the Nation leaders, was to negotiate, and if that failed, to destroy the base, including all machinery and mobile suits. There was going to be a bombing party at the Lunar base, and the Preventers were the unexpected hosts. They had exactly thirty minutes from the time of the command to do what they had to do before explosive charges started going off.  
  
+  
  
Within minutes, the Lunar base was alive with a flurry of activity. Heero's unit, after hearing the command to proceed with Plan B, destroy base, was to seek out the first two Preventer units and get them and the ones holding them back to the shuttles, and they set off to do that immediately.   
  
Appointing a few officers beside himself though, Heero remained behind to begin planting charges in and around the army of mobile suits that would be set off by remote once all Preventer personnel had been accounted for. After barking a few orders to the rest of his unit, Heero went to work with the others, tossing explosives from his pack into the open and waiting cockpits of the mobile suits one by one.  
  
Preventer officers rushed in every which direction, hastily planting bombs and explosives as they went, but remaining orderly and calm at the same time. They had been heavily trained for events such as this, and every officer knew his place and duty to get the job done like a well-oiled machine. Then satisfied that the entire hanger would go up in a fireball upon activating the remote charges, Heero rounded up his few officers and got them out of the room. He ordered them to make themselves useful by helping the rest of the unit in getting the decoy units safely back to the shuttles, then made tracks himself.  
  
After the rest of the team had disappeared, Heero went to work the way he preferred working, quietly, secretly and alone. His jaw steeled shut like a bear trap, his eyes piercing through the dim light of little-used corridors, Heero made his way almost instinctively through the halls of the base, planting his seeds of mass destruction, now explosives with timers, as he went. From somewhere in the distance, Heero could hear the sound of gunshots as his unit stormed the area where the decoy units were being held. It quickly began to sound like a small war all its own had been started wherever the officers were, and for a split second, Heero acknowledged that there was a possibility that a few of them would not be going home. Then a glimpse of Duo flashed into his thought, and as he wondered if the other man was alright, the pounding in his head started. /Finish the job!/ Heero clamped his eyes closed for a moment to clear his vision. _You can't worry about anyone else. If they can't get out, it's not your problem. You have only to finish the job! THAT'S your responsibility -- nothing else._  
  
Breathing heavily, he opened his eyes, then gathered up his backpack and continued on his way, thoughts of the other man long since washed away by the waves of pain radiating through his cranium.  
  
+  
  
At the other side of the base, Duo's unit, along with the other two remaining units, were scurrying as well, planting all the explosives they had all over the mobile suit manufacturing factory. Officers ran in every direction, finding the beams that supported the structure and fixing bombs to them at their weakest points to guarantee a collapse. Time seemed to be ticking by in slow motion, yet when Duo checked his watch, twenty-four minutes had already flashed by him. There were only six minutes left before explosions would begin rocking the back of the base and the factory, and it was looking to be time to get everyone out. He had yet to see either Heero or Wufei, but it hadn't begun to concern him yet as he worried about getting his unit out of the base.  
  
From the end of a corridor leading to a further section of the base, Duo called out to his unit, "Five minutes people! Everybody! Get the hell back to the shuttles, NOW!" Officers began fleeing as he yelled, many of them having gone already, keeping the time with their own stopwatches. Then as the last few disappeared through the corridor to the hanger, Duo went in the other direction, giving himself a scant four minutes to make sure that no one was left behind before making a mad dash for the shuttles, which would be safe until the mobile suits were blown up by remote.  
  
"Three minutes, forty! Anybody back here?" He yelled, his voice echoing through the deserted hallway. Listening briefly, Duo heard some shuffling further down the hallway. "Hey!! Whoever's back there...this place is gonna BLOW!" The sound was getting louder as whoever was back there ran toward Duo's voice. It was Lt. Daniels, one of the officers from the fifth unit.  
  
"Explosive planted in the circuit box, sir!" Daniels called out as he ran to catch up with Duo. "I'm the last. Everyone else has gone already."  
  
"Great, now, lets get out of here ourselves." Duo checked his watch. They had just under three minutes left before the factory would be transformed to smithereens. Racing across the large expanse, they rushed together toward the corridor to the hanger.

+

When the first bombs started to go off at the back of the base, officers were piling aboard the six shuttles, loading on the captive Freedom Alliance soldiers with them, to be taken back to Earth for interrogation. The main hanger was fairly safe from the damage being done by the bombs that had been set, since the hangers were all wired by remote, but the shuttles were prepared for a quick liftoff anyway, ready to depart the now-exploding base. The hanger shook with tremors as a second charge blew, and the final, remaining officers finished boarding their ships. As Heero gazed over the men and women hurrying to prepare for takeoff, he noted that there were some faces he hadn't yet seen, and his stomach sank, hoping that he was mistaken. There had been weapons fire in one part of the base; he'd heard it. He once more pushed away the possibility that some of the units would not be going home. Then he realized that he hadn't seen Duo yet either.  
  
Running back out to the floor of the hanger, Heero began going from shuttle to shuttle, a panic building in his chest that threatened to make him mad if he didn't find Duo. "Agent Maxwell. Seen him yet?" He asked the other agents as they took account for their own officers. Heero hadn't even done that of his own officers, instead disappearing into the sea of Preventers and Alliance soldiers, asking about who had last seen Duo, and all the while, his head throbbed, no pounded, like a jackhammer was at work inside his skull. /Do what you're supposed to do and clear your mind of everything else. The mission is your only concern, Heero./ He could hear J's voice echoing through his head as the pounding became worse, and all he wanted to do was curl up into a fetal ball until the pain went away, but Heero forced himself to keep going. "Have you seen agent Maxwell?" Getting more "no's", Heero kept on going until he came to the realization that Duo wasn't there. When he found Wufei, who was accounting for his own men, the other agent shook his head with a look of worry on his face, as he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Duo since the units all entered the base.  
  
+  
  
Hearing the first explosion behind them as they ran for the safety of the shuttle hanger, Duo and officer Daniels were startled, and Duo checked his watch. "Shit," he cursed, and the other man looked at him with worry on his face. "It's time. They're all gonna start blowing...right...about..." He didn't get to finish his sentence as another explosion rocked the factory, causing the huge beam to which it was attached to buckle and break over, bringing down a section of ceiling and cement block wall with it. Before they could take another step, yet another charge went off behind them, and the air was clouded with the dust of demolition, making it difficult to see and breathe.  
  
"Damn it! I can't find the corridor!" Daniels yelled out, running blindly through the thick powder in the direction that he knew escape was.  
  
"Just keep running, Daniels! Keep running!" Duo was right behind Daniels, coughing as dusty particles filled his mouth and lungs, but he kept on as a third explosion hit in the factory, this one closer. He could feel the heat from that one, and the shrapnel that flew across the room, some of it hitting all over his body like many tiny BBs from a gun that went off all at once. Now the fog in the factory was so thick, he couldn't see his hand in front of his face, yet he kept on. It was the fourth explosion, the one that took out the near wall, that stopped him as debris fell on all sides, pinning him by the legs under a fallen beam.  
  
"Uuugh!" He grunted, thrown to the floor, the wind briefly knocked out of him as the beam fell onto him.  
  
"Agent Maxwell!" Daniels yelled from somewhere in the gray clouded muck floating around in the air as another rumble hit somewhere near the back of the factory. "Where are you?"  
  
Duo tried to free his caught legs, tried to squirm his way out from under the beam, but he was struck by the searing pain of what could only be a broken bone. His thighbone was snapped right where the beam lay across his legs, holding him in place under its weight. He was immediately covered in a clammy sweat, and he cursed himself.  
  
"Agent Maxwell!" The call came again. Daniels was still waiting for him as explosions were going off all over the base. The shuttles were probably leaving already, probably preparing for the one final boom, the "big" charges that would blow up the mobile suit hanger, and the officer was still trying to find Duo instead of getting his ass back to safety.  
  
"Run, Daniels! RUN for it!"  
  
"WHERE ARE YOU?"  
  
Duo coughed to get his voice out. "I'm hurt, Daniels. Just go! Get out of here before you get killed too!"  
  
"I can hear you...not too far!"  
  
"Daniels! GO! And that's an ORDER!" Duo screamed, forcing the officer to retreat back to the shuttles against his will. Then he tried to free his leg once more and the shooting pain returned, this time accompanied by white and black spots in his field of vision. "ahhh fuck," he complained to himself as yet another charge shuddered through the base and he could hear more and more of the structure crumbling and collapsing around him.  
  
+  
  
Daniels burst through the doors to the shuttle hanger just as the first shuttle was taking off, his entire body covered from head to toe in gray dust and particles. He was quickly met by officers rushing to help him.  
  
"Agent Maxwell...he's...still in there," Daniels said, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his wind and wipe dust out of his eyes. "He's hurt or...something. In the factory. I couldn't...find him to get... him out. On the left side...near the conveyor belt...I think."  
  
Seeing the commotion gathering around the young officer, Heero, who's head was still pounding and pounding like a fence post driller, rushed over to hear what the officer had to say. Then before anyone could stop him, he was running toward the hanger doors, heading back into the base as another bomb went off somewhere in the interior of the building.  
  
"Yuy!" One of the other agents called out to him. "Where the HELL are you going?" Heero didn't answer, but just kept going, _Forget about the others -- all you need to worry about is your MISSION!_ ignoring the calls of his fellow Preventers. He knew he was going against orders. He knew he was screwing up the time frame, since they still had to detonate the mobile suit hanger before any wise-assed Alliance member who might be hiding out could manage to get away with one of the suits. He knew he was going to have to deal with the wrath of J for this stunt, because assassins and soldiers didn't HAVE feelings to interfere with their missions.  
  
There was something else that Heero also knew, though. He knew that he had to find Duo and bring him out of the mess that was becoming the Lunar base, and he had to do it quick, before they were both killed, and before the shuttles left without them.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).  
> \------------  
> Warning this part: "Extra Foul-Mouthed Duo," as opposed to slightly foul-mouthed Duo or normally foul-mouthed Duo *giggles* You've been warned.

Duo lay amidst the rubble collapsing down around him, his legs pinned beneath part of a steel support beam. His right leg felt very broken indeed as it throbbed its complaint throughout the rest of him, and every time he tried to move it, it screamed out. If he could only roll the beam off himself he could probably manage to wiggle his way out from under with his good leg but, being as it was the bad leg which the beam rested on, every little move brought him closer to passing out. As yet another explosive rang out near him, turning the factory into that much more of a pile of construction trash, he thought that passing now might be a good thing, shielding him from the inevitable blast or pile of rubble that was sure to fall on top of him any moment and snuff him out like a mosquito on a windshield. Duo wiggled his legs once more, sending the excruciating pain of bone against bone through his body, welcoming the thick, fuzzy feeling that accompanied it this time.  
  
_I asked you, God, just for the chance to be able to tell Heero how I felt about him, and this is what I get?_ Duo wavered between consciousness and passing out, trying to move his legs every time he felt himself getting clear headed again. _All I wanted was to tell him...so he could know how I feel, but the jackass hasn't changed one bit. Not one bit. Probably on one of those shuttles right now as they're all bailing outa here before the mobile suit hanger is detonated. Won't that be a fun party, when that goes up?_ "Fuck you, Heero," Duo said under his breath as he lie, his head against his arm, his eyes closed against the dust that was everywhere. Another charge went off, this time bringing down the roof support right next to him, and a huge new pile of debris was formed too close for comfort.   
  
"Stupid morons can't even blow up a building right," he complained. "All these fucking charges were supposed to go off at once, you idiots! Need more training, I think..." Duo mumbled to himself until his anger became nonsensical, moving his legs around more to flood his mind with new waves of pain that eventually took him repeatedly to the brink of consciousness. No matter how hard he tried, though, he couldn't make himself pass out as his body hung on to a glimpse of consciousness. A large chunk of concrete falling on top of the beam that pinned his legs helped somewhat though, making him feel more hazy and lightheaded from the shooting pain running through him.  
  
_Fuck it all. Fuck you, Heero, for being your mother-fucking soldier self, and fuck everything, because I'm gonna lie here and get smashed to bits while all the rest of you are whooping it up on a job well done! Perfect ending to my perfect, fucked up life. Sure, there'll be a memorial ceremony or something. Can't forget that. The memorial ceremony with my picture on top of some podium since there wont be a body, and you can all act like I'm there in the room with you as you say nice things about me even if you don't mean them, but you know what I say to that? Fuck that! That's what I say to your goddamn memorial ceremony! That's what I say to you, Heero, for letting me die here, you bastard. You haven't changed one fucking bit! But I'm sure you got your mission done in time, you soldier you. J's little puppet, that's what you are. Nothing more than a goddamn puppet, you pathetic fool._ Agent Maxwell didn't realize it but he was crying softly, a few tears making thin, pasty tracks of gray dust down his cheeks as more sections of wall and ceiling fell down around and on top of him. He tried his best to prepare for the inevitable, cursing life and death the whole while. _You fucking selfish bastard, Heero. Duo sniffed. I fucking loved you._

+

Heero could hear the blood coursing through his head as he rushed to find his friend and partner amidst the wreckage of the charges that had been left by the units. He made his way down the main corridor that lead to the mobile suit factory and before he was able to even enter to area, he was overcome by the heavy cloud of particle dust filling the air. Coughing now, he pulled his shirt up over his nose and mouth to breath, and he squinted as he moved forward into the destruction to find Duo. Picking his way over piles of cement block and steel beam, he stopped every few feet to pull his shirt down and call. "DUO!" Then gasping for breath, he continued on again, getting further and further into the rubble as more explosives went off around him.  
  
Daniels had said he thought Duo was near the conveyor belt on the left side. Heero gradually made his way in that direction, remembering the layout if the factory that he'd seen the day that he and Duo had spied on the activities going on in that very space. It wasn't far – maybe fifty feet or so – but in this mess it was going to be a challenge to find anything, what with the dirt and dust clouding everything up the way it was.  
  
"DUO!" Heero called again, coughing violently after automatically sucking in a deep breath and filling his throat with dust. "DUO! Where are you?"  
  
+  
  
He was dreaming. He had to be. He was unconscious and dreaming, because Duo thought he heard someone calling his name. _The shuttles are long gone by now. There's nobody here to call your name but your own imagination._ Then he heard it again, and it sounded closer. Someone calling for him, in all this mess. No, wait...that wasn't just someone. It was...Heero? Duo fought for consciousness now.  
  
"DUO! Where are you?"  
  
There it was again and, by golly, that sure as hell did sound like Heero.   
  
_Might as well answer him, you dope! If it's not him, and it's only your imagination, there's nobody here to make fun at you anyway, because they've all gone, remember?_ Duo pushed his thoughts aside and forced out a yell.  
  
"Heero!" It was faint as his throat was caked with dust and his voice hoarse.  
  
"Duo!" The call was closer this time.  
  
"Heero! I'm here! Over HERE!" Duo screamed out for all he was worth.  
  
"Duo!" This time there was recognition in the yell. He had heard him. "Keep talking! I'm on my way!"  
  
"I'm over HERE!" Duo called out again, but his yell was drowned out by another explosion followed by more falling, crashing debris. Then there was quiet. _Oh don't even tell me..._  
  
"Duo? Are you alright?"  
  
He breathed a sigh of relief. "Over here! Hurry up, man! Before we're both squashed in here!"  
  
By the time Heero was able to locate Duo under the beam and a loose pile of rubble, the main floor structure in the factory was cracking from all the damage that had already been done to the building. Apparently the foundation had been affected, and some of the mining tunnels under the floor were caving in, bringing layers of concrete floor with them. The entire place was now shaking like an earthquake, and Heero realized that if they were going to get out with their lives, he would have to work fast.  
  
"Oh thank God," Duo said as he reached out and touched his partner. "Wha-at the hell are you doing here, man? Why aren't you gone with the rest of them?"  
  
"Daniels said you were still in here. A shuttle is waiting, but we have to hurry up."  
  
"My legs are stuck...under the beam. The...right one...busted femur, I think." Duo coughed between breaths.  
  
Surveying the situation, Heero made a quick decision. "I'm going to start pulling up on this beam for you. When the pressure lightens, pull yourself out from under, OK?"  
  
"Yeah." Duo readied himself.  
  
Bending down to grasp the edge of the beam, Heero coiled his legs to brunt the load that he was about to try to lift. Then he looked at his partner.   
  
"One...two..." On three, his face contorted as he pulled on the steel as hard as he could, at first thinking that he wasn't going to get the metal to budge and they were both going to die right where they were as another explosion opened up the floor the rest of the way. _Come on, Heero! Failure is NOT an option here!_ The steel budged only slightly, but not enough for Duo to get out from under it, and he let off pulling up on the beam. Duo's face became distraught.  
  
"Hang on. I have an idea."  
  
Searching the floor beside them, Heero grabbed chunks of concrete, which he laid on the floor behind Duo's legs, where the beam was closer to the floor. He stood straddling his partner's legs, then started to pull again, giving it everything he was worth, praying that he could get the beam to move if only an inch or two. _Come on, come ON!_ Slowly though, he eventually started to get a little bit of leverage on the beam, and as he did, he kicked the big chunks of concrete into place under it, trying to wedge them under the steel, making it so that it wouldn't go back down. "Now! Duo! Pull yoursss...elf out!"  
  
Duo used his one good leg to push against the floor, sliding his broken leg out, but not without having to pull it against the bottom of the beam. He screamed out as sharp bolts of pain attacked his right thigh yet forced himself to fight against it. He'd gotten himself almost clear when Heero couldn't hold the beam anymore, and it sank back down the couple of inches he'd managed to raise it up. Duo's foot was still caught under.  
  
"Fuck! Heero!"  
  
Another blast rocked them, this one closer than any yet, and more debris rained down on them. Then Heero saw one of the big metal forming machines disappear into the fault in the floor as the crack widened.  
  
"Take off your boot. Quick!"  
  
Duo began to undo the many lace hooks on the tall combat-style boots, cursing the time it was taking, when Heero bent down to help, ripping at the laces as well. With two sets of hands working them at once, they became tangled quickly, and Heero cursed in Japanese, a phrase that Duo recognized from days past. Then Heero got out his butterfly knife. Whipping the blade open so fast that he caught the tip of one of his fingers, cutting it superficially, he inserted it under the multitude of laces on the boot and sliced them open down the length of the boot tongue, immediately allowing the boot to loosen. Duo grabbed his ankle with both hands and yanked his foot out of the entrapped boot, freeing himself. He realized then that his foot and ankle were also swelling from the injury to his leg.  
  
Grabbing Duo by the forearm, Heero hoisted him to his feet. "Can you walk?"

"Not gonna be easy, but I want out of here worse."  
  
Heero helped hold Duo so that he could keep his injured leg up, and together they hobbled their way toward the entrance to the main corridor, climbing gingerly over the piles of debris in their way. No sooner had they reached the dark hallway than the fault line in the factory floor cracked some more, and the very machine Duo had been lying near was swallowed up into the pit of the mining tunnels below, creating a loud 'boom' as the equipment hit the earthy bottom of the hole. The two partners looked at each other momentarily in realization of their close call, then hurried along their way.  
  
When they reached the shuttle hanger, there was only one shuttle left as all the others had departed by that point. The pilot had already repositioned the craft into liftoff position, and was anxiously awaiting any sign that agents Yuy or Maxwell were still alive. He had given Heero ten minutes to return before he was going to have to leave without them and detonate the mobile suit hanger. As he watched the time count down on the clock in the instrument panel of the shuttle, his face was solemn as he called out to the others on the shuttle.  
  
"Batten down the hatches, people. Liftoff in sixty seconds."  
  
Nobody said a word. The only noise heard in the craft, other than the engines revving, was that of safety belts being fastened and equipment being moved around. They were going to have to leave without the two agents, and no one was happy about it, that was certain. Then, from a window at the back of the shuttle, someone spotted the hanger doors opening.  
  
"It's them! Johnny! Don't lift off yet! They made it! All heads on the craft turned to find agent Yuy helping agent Maxwell as he limped his way across the hanger floor, obviously injured, but obviously alive as well. An instant later, officers were opening up the hatch on the shuttle, and running out to meet the two dust-covered agents to help get them aboard.  
  
+  
  
By the time the final shuttle lifted off and was a safe distance away from the Lunar base, the mobile suit hanger was finally detonated via remote control, sending up an impressive orange and red cloud as the army of war machines were destroyed in one big blast. Travelling at top speed away from the moon, the resonance from the explosion could be felt as it made the shuttle shudder and sway in its retreat. Then as the shaking passed and a dark cloud of smoke could be seen where the former Oz base once stood, a round of applause went up among the officers and agents. The threat had been halted with the destruction of the base and factory, and the Nation leaders would be grateful.  
  
Heero sat at the back of the shuttle, leaning against the back compartment wall, where his partner was lying in the aisleway to keep his injured leg comfortable, his head propped up by his backpack. Trying to force away the stress and pain that was still throbbing in his head, he closed his eyes and rested it against the wall of the cabin.  
  
"You look like shit," Duo said through a dust-encrusted voice, wiping his face of all the filth that was all over him. He coughed some more from the gunk that was residing in his throat. Craning his neck to look himself over, Duo found that the rest of him, and Heero as well, was covered in the thick gray dust.  
  
"Headache. Bad one."  
  
Duo perked up. "One of _those_ headaches?"  
  
Heero didn't say anything. It hurt too much to say anything.  
  
"I thought he was controlling the headaches? I thought he took the chip or whatever it was out of you?"  
  
"He...did."  
  
"Then why..."  
  
"Conditioning. Going to...take time, I guess." Heero rested for a few seconds, breathing heavy. "I went against the conditioning...I...always instructed to just get the mission done and not worry about anything else."  
  
"Yeah, don't I know that one," Duo smirked, then winced as the shuttle rolled some, causing his weight to redistribute and move his leg slightly. "It happened by...itself this time."  
  
"But..."  
  
"It will stop. They'll stop...coming. I can tell."  
  
"How can you be so sure? What if you're so brainwashed that it triggers them all the time now, even without the chip?" Duo was concerned as he looked up into his partner's face, seeing the pained expression as Heero withstood the debilitating headache.  
  
"It's different. Not the same. Just too much...anxiety...this time. _It was you this time._ I...had to do this." Heero opened his eyes to meet Duo's, seeing him only through blurred vision. "Had to get you...out of there because..." His voice trailed off.  
  
"Because why?"  
  
"Because...I just had to. Because...the feeling inside me wouldn't let me...leave there without you." Heero closed his eyes once more, needing to force away the pain. "Couldn't...leave you at that place."  
  
_The feeling inside. He couldn't leave without me after all...because of the feeling inside him. "That" feeling? Is he feeling "that" feeling inside? God, I love you Heero, if you only knew._ Dying anywhere would have been bad enough, but dying there would have been the worst, since his memories still fed him with visions of all the terrible things that had happened to him at that same location. Happy that his life wasn't being filled with all sorts of irony, Duo thanked God, and Heero, that he was still alive and now on his way back to Earth.  
  
His mind wandering about what exactly Heero had meant, Duo closed his eyes too, letting himself be taken by a deep, pain-numbing sleep. When he next awoke, the shuttle was less than two hours from home. Heero was still by his side.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

Two days later there was a knock at Duo's door.  
  
"Hey! Come on in!" The injured agent had undergone surgery to place a pin and some screws into his broken leg bone. Now clad in a cast that stretched all the way to the top of his right thigh, he lie in the hospital bed reading a magazine, trying to keep himself from being bored out of his mind.  
  
"Brought you something." Heero handed over a mocha latte with whipped cream and shaved chocolate from the coffee bar next door to the hospital cafeteria in the lobby.  
  
"Oh man! Have I been salivating for one of those!" Duo carefully took the hot cup from his partner as Heero sat in the chair beside the bed. "I couldn't convince the nurses to bring me one with dinner last night." He laughed.  
  
"Going home tomorrow?"  
  
"Yup! I'm outa here! Lots of good drugs in me so, I ain't feelin' a thing!" He knocked lightly on his cast, smiling.  
  
"Good, good." Heero searched Duo's eyes, looking for that little something that he'd thought he'd seen before. That little something that had him guessing and completely confused.  
  
Duo blushed, then forced a conversation. "So, Sally came by earlier. Said you guys did a bang-up job with everything."  
  
"So did you," Heero said, leaning back in the uncomfortable chair.  
  
"Heh, yeah. All I did was manage to nearly get myself killed."  
  
"You got all your men out safely, too. Even Daniels. He owes his life to you, for sending him out the way you did." His eyes glowing brilliantly, Heero caught Duo's bashful look.  
  
"It was nothing. I was just doing what anyone else would have done."  
  
The two partners were quiet now, each reliving their own memory of the raid.  
  
"You know, Heero...Thanks."  
  
"Just doing what anyone else would have done."  
  
His face reddening some, Duo paused. "I know you were but...I was scared there for a little while. Not so much because I could have died there but, because..." His voice drifted off and they just looked at each other, exchanging silent dialogue. _I was afraid because I didn't want to have to face the fact that I meant nothing to you._ "How's your headache?"  
  
Heero smirked, acknowledging the deliberate change of subject. "Better. I slept all day after we got back, while you were in here having your surgery. I stopped by after you were out, but you were still asleep."  
  
"Hey, thanks man. At least you got some rest, though. I'm sure you needed it." Duo sipped carefully on his latte, managing not to burn his tongue for once. He wouldn't have felt it for long if he had though, with all the strong pain killers that were coursing through his system.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
For a few more moments, awkward silence.  
  
"So how long are you stuck in this contraption," Heero asked, referring to the cast covering Duo's entire left leg, his ankle and half of his foot.  
  
"Eight long weeks, because it was such a big bone that was broken."  
  
"Damn."  
  
Duo chuckled. "Hey, at least I didn't have to leave the leg behind with the boot!"  
  
"Well, I'm glad to see you in such good spirits, considering."  
  
Smiling, Duo's expression turned sort of goofy. "Yeah, I guess I am in good spirits, aren't I?"  
  
Heero smiled back.  
  
"You know...I was thinking while I was lying here."  
  
What about?  
  
"Well," Duo said. "You see this." He pointed to his large, cumbersome cast.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Well, I can't drive, I'm not going to be able to easily get around for a while, and I won't be back to work the whole time, because I need to be off my feet, they say."  
  
"OK." Heero's stomach twinged. He had a feeling he knew what was coming next.  
  
"Is there any way you'd consider...coming to stay at my place until I get out of this thing? You know...to help me out a little?" Duo blushed, then started blabbering. "I mean, if you don't think you have the time, or you wouldn't feel comfortable I can underst..."  
  
"Sure."  
  
Duo stopped, mid-sentence. "What?"  
  
"I said yes. I'll come and live with you to help you out."  
  
_He used the word ' live.'_ "Really?"  
  
"Yes. I said yes." Duo's face showed relief and happiness, and the brightness in him made Heero quiver again. His heart pounding in his chest, he didn't really know what it was that was developing between them, but if Duo had an idea, then he was at least willing to go along for the ride to see what happened. "I'm warning you now, though. I haven't learned how to cook anything besides oatmeal and canned soup yet."  
  
"That's OK. We can order out," Duo teased. "You're sure it's no bother then? I mean, what with work and everything."  
  
"It's no bother, Duo. Really. _Really_. It will be good for me to be separate from Relena for a while anyway."  
  
"Oh yeah. Forgot about that little detail." Duo smirked. "She isn't going to be happy about this, you realize."  
  
"She may not, but... _I will be._ "  
  
There was a flicker in his partner's eye that Duo caught this time, and it was unmistakable. Duo's face relaxed as thoughts flew through his mind. Then pinning his friend with his heavy gaze, the longhaired man's lips rose into a crooked, wistful little smile. "Heero..." Heero's elusiveness was turning him the hell on.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
Duo's face reddened. Heero's did too. "I...I need to tell you something. Something that's been on my mind for a while. I suppose now is as good a time as any, since you're talking about staying with me for two months or however long."  
  
"However long?"  
  
"Well, you were saying you were thinking of moving out of Relena's place. I mean, I certainly won't tell you to leave once I get the cast off, not if you'd rather stay that is. Then again, after two months of me in a cast, you might very well be so sick of me that you'll be thanking God you could leave," Duo rambled on, his words rushing, his eyes shifting, his discomfort at that moment making it impossible for him to look Heero in the eye.  
  
"But I could stay if I wanted to, is what you're saying, right?" Heero looked up, his expression bright.  
  
"Absolutely. You're my best buddy, man. Unless we try to kill each other, my place is as good as yours. You have to pay half the rent, of course, but we could work those details out later, _after_ the cast comes off, ya know? Since you'd be doing me the favor, first and foremost."  
  
Heero nodded. His stomach was on a flying trapeze now as the two of them talked about the future so vaguely that neither could confirm anything, yet at the same time he suspected that they each knew _exactly_ what the other was saying. "Duo, I..."  
  
"Let me finish, because I don't know when I'm going to have the courage to say this to you again."  
  
Heero waited. "Go ahead."  
  
"When I was stuck under that beam, when I thought that ol' shinigami had finally come for me, I wasn't afraid, Heero. I was angry. I was upset."  
  
"Angry? At who?"  
  
"At you, first." Heero's expression questioned Duo's comment. "I was first angry at you, Heero, and then I was angry at myself. Know why?" Duo swallowed hard. "I was angry at you because I lay there thinking that I was going to be turned into smithereens along with the rest of the Lunar base, and that would be that. I was angry because I wanted you to, no, I _needed_ you to come back for me."  
  
"I did."  
  
"I know you did Heero, but this is what was going on in my head before you did. I was cursing you, convincing myself that you hadn't changed any, and that I was no more important to you than any little bothersome factiod that would interfere with the success of the mission. I just felt like...like you were going to dismiss me off as careless, or just another one of those expected casualties."  
  
Stunned, Heero was quiet for a few minutes, staring into Duo's eyes, which were now a little moist. "I...Duo, I..."  
  
"I know, Heero. It was unfair of me to say those things about you. I guess the thought that I was going to die there really got to me. Anyplace but there, ya know what I mean."  
  
Heero nodded. He knew _exactly_ what he meant.  
  
"But yeah, it was unfair of me, because you _have_ changed. I can see it."  
  
"I came for you the first time too, if you remember."  
  
"I know you did, buddy. And the time before that, if you count Barouji. And I'm still grateful for that one too. Seems I just don't have any luck with Oz bases _\--_ they seem to have ways of trying to make me stay." They shared a brief chuckle. "Good riddance to the Lunar base, if you ask me. But remember, you came for me the first time at Barouji to kill me, you bastard!" More light laughter. "I just figured each time after that you'd eventually get tired of having to rescue my ass and just blow me away to not have to do it again!"  
  
"But I didn't now, did I."  
  
"No, you didn't. I have no idea why you didn't, considering the frame of mind you were in those days..."  
  
_I know why I didn't, now. I didn't know then, but I know now._  
  
"...but thanks for not blowing me away, OK? And for finding me those umpteen times."  
  
"You're welcome." Heero blushed, turning his head away briefly.   
  
Clearing his throat, Duo began again. "I said I was angry at myself, too, and the reason for that was because I thought I was going to die with a secret that shouldn't be a secret anymore, and...I just feel like I need to tell you about it, Heero."  
  
"OK," Heero said as the butterflies on his trapeze turned into bats in his belfry.  
  
Duo sighed. "God, I don't know how to tell you this."  
  
"You don't have to," the Japanese man said with warmth and recognition in his eyes.  
  
"I do, though."  
  
"Alright."  
  
Taking a deep breath as if he were preparing to deliver a speech to the Nation's leaders, Duo said "Heero, the reason I've spent so much time being angry _\--_ both at you and at me _\--_ is because I've realized some things about myself, and for a while it didn't look like I was going to be able to find what I was looking for in life."  
  
"Like...what?" Heero readjusted in his chair now, his clothing suddenly feeling too warm for him as his skin broke a light sweat.  
  
"You asked me once about Hilde, and why we weren't together, and I told you that she just didn't 'do it' for me."  
  
"OK."  
  
"Well, that wasn't it, entirely. It wasn't that she didn't 'do it' for me, Heero, it was...well, it just didn't feel right to me. Being with her. It was...it was...cold."  
  
"Had you slept with her?"  
  
"Yes. And while I don't regret it...something inside me all this time has just been nagging away that she was not the direction I needed to go in. That's why..." he trailed off.  
  
"Why what?"  
  
"That's why I was so damn pissed off at you when you took off, Heero. Because..."  
  
_Oh God, he's going to say it, confirming everything._  
  
"...when you went away without telling anyone, you unknowingly took that part of me away with you, someplace that I had no idea where to search for it."  
  
"I.. _. what?_ " Heero asked, surprised. When he put two and two together, he suddenly came up with ten. "You mean the entire year I was gone..."  
  
"The entire year you were gone I was praying I'd have the chance to see you again, Heero, even if it were only to set myself straight. Or not straight, as the case may be." They got a good, nervous laugh out of that one. "That's why I was so angry at you when you came back. That's why I was such a bastard, Heero _\--_ because the whole time you were gone, I was missing you way more than you could ever imagine. So much that it hurt, Heero. So the other day, when I thought I was going to screw myself out of what I wanted yet again, but then you showed up after all, I decided that I had to say something." Now deep violet eyes bore down on Heero's vibrant blue, despite their uneasiness.  
  
"I, Duo..." _Oh God. I feel like I need to be sick. Maybe that's what he's been talking about all this time?_  
  
Neither of them able to form a sentence, they just stared at each other. Duo forced himself not to break eye contact, though his body was in an uproar. Please Heero...at least say something. Even if I was all wrong to ever think this way about you. Let me know where I stand?  
  
Heero's face became ablaze with the awkwardness he was feeling. "I...I don't know what to say."  
  
"How about telling me how you feel about this. If it offends you, I need to know." Duo's voice was still and hushed, laced with the apprehension of knowing that he needed to know this, but feeling that he really didn't want to have to face the possibility that he'd be out of luck.  
  
Checking his watch since he still had an appointment yet with Sally that afternoon, a skittish smile flickered across Heero's face. "I have to go now, but what time should I be here to pick you up tomorrow?"  
  
"Huh," Duo said, surprised if not a little disappointed. "They said I can go at ten."  
  
"Great. I'll be by at ten to get you then. We can get take-out for lunch on the way back, so I can get you home and settled in alright." The weird little smile was still there.  
  
Confused, Duo nodded. His mind was going at full speed, wondering what Heero was thinking, but he didn't want to push the issue any longer for fear of the truth. So instead, he smiled back warily, without saying a word. Looked like they were back to ' Hurry up and wait.'


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

Dealing with Relena the next morning had been a treat, but Heero half expected that she would be displeased by his departure to stay with Duo. It had been a game of "twenty-questions" when at breakfast he'd mentioned to the girl that his intent was to accompany Duo home from the hospital, and then stay on to help him for the two months that he would be confined by a full-length cast on his leg. Of course she'd asked why, and the look of amusement on her own face was comical as she answered her own question _\--_ the man couldn't get around _\--_ of course he was in need of someone to help him for a while. By the third question, though, Heero was convinced that Relena was sure that he'd never return to his comfortable bedroom in the mansion. Though he assured her that he would, and that his arrangement was only temporary, since he felt he needed to be there for his best friend, Relena was insistent that he was going to decide to stay, and come only for the remainder of his belongings at some point.  
  
If he had to be perfectly honest with himself, the idea already _had_ occurred to him, but Heero was willing to first see what developed before getting himself caught up in a situation that was all in his mind.  
  
+  
  
Having requested the rest of the week off to get Duo settled at home, Heero was there to pick him up from the hospital promptly at ten, just as he'd promised. The smile on his partner's face was enough to warm the coldest of icy hearts as Duo's face expressed his joy in seeing him. It sent a shiver through him that left him glowing on the inside and anxious to find out exactly what was going to transpire between them.  
  
"Hey!" Duo said excitedly as one of the ward nurses helped him manage on his crutches. His bag was packed and he was more than ready to go.  
  
"You ready?" Heero asked, nodding to the female assistant before assuming responsibility of his hobbling charge.  
  
"Oh yeah, am I ever. Get me outa this place before I go stir crazy."  
  
They exchanged a glance that said volumes more than any words could, and Heero looked away, blushing. "Let's go, gimpy. I think I promised you take-out today?"  
  
"Hmm...Szechuan would be good. I'm in the mood for hot and spicy. Need to get the bland out of my taste buds from the hospital food!"  
  
Heero took the overnight bag and slung it over his shoulders, then went to Duo's side to aid him as he fumbled with his awkward crutches. They moved slowly out of the hospital room and down the hallway of the ward and to the elevator, where they rode the car down to lobby level and exited the building. They had to do some creative maneuvering to get Duo into the passenger side of Heero's sport coupe without him having the ability to bend his injured leg, but they managed and were soon on their way home _\--_ to Duo's home _\--_ but not before stopping to pick up some Szechuan.  
  
+  
  
Duo's condo was comfortable. It was multi-level dwelling, with the lower level boasting a nicely sized open kitchen and eating area, and a large living room area, where he had every creature comfort imaginable to man _\--_ HD TV, every method of playing discs and videos, and a top of the line CD player and receiver. The furniture looked practically new _\--_ barely sat on _\--_ all a nondescript style of useable. Not those gaudy, ugly contemporary things that some people filled their houses with, and not the stuffy, antique style that filled Relena's mansion. This style, the sofa and armchairs, were "relaxed," Heero decided. Big fluffy cushions that you could sink into and fall asleep on, and huge overstuffed TV chairs with matching ottomans that combined were nearly as big as a single bed. They made the living room look like a giant playroom with their welcoming appeal.  
  
They entered the living area where Duo hobbled himself around so he could plop down on one of the cushy TV chairs and get his feet up. Heero brought in their bags _\--_ Duo's and a couple of his own _\--_ and set them at the foot of the stairway. Then he went to the kitchen to get a couple of forks for the Szechuan, which they sucked down in the living room right out of the cartons, spread out on the couch and watching TV as they ate. Heero got hot and spicy shrimp, one of his favorites, while Duo worked on a container of General Tso's Chicken, extra spicy.  
  
After they'd eaten their fill and lain around for a while, experiencing that overstuffed feeling that Chinese gives for about the first fifteen minutes before leaving a person hungry again, Duo started to pull himself to his feet. Seeing this, Heero got up as well, wanting to know if there was anything he could do instead of Duo getting up.  
  
"Gonna try and make it upstairs," the longhaired man said as he organized his crutches. He still had a lot to learn about coordinating them as he thumped his own cast with the leg of one crutch, making him see stars.  
  
"You sure I can't get whatever it is that you want?"  
  
"I _want_ to go upstairs, but if you like, you can make sure I don't fall and break my back trying. A fucking broken leg is bad enough right now. I'll kill myself if I wind up in a body cast too."  
  
Heero smirked, realizing it was going to be a unique couple of months living with Duo. He eagerly looked forward to it.  
  
As they made their way across the living room and Duo started to hop up one step at a time, Heero grabbed their bags and stood close behind him, ready to drop everything and catch him if he needed to. He was almost wishing he could do that as the coppery-colored braided hair swung and bobbled in his face. As he waited to ascend the stairs one slow step at a time, he caught a scent of Duo's shampoo, and that smell of floral coming off his friend the way it did surprised him as he felt it deep inside himself and all the way to his core. Watching Duo's back as he crutched himself up the flight, Heero found his eyes taking notes of things they'd never noticed before, like how muscular Duo's arms and shoulders were these days, and the apparent firmness of his ass, visible through the "modified" sweatpants that he wore, and he blushed. _Oh God. It's him. It really is him. He's the one causing the reaction in me. All this time and I've been so stupid. All this time, and he was right here in front of me._  
  
When they got to the top of the flight, Duo stopped them in the hallway, where he gave the thirty-second tour. "Bedroom on the left is mine, one on the right, I guess can be yours. Bathroom is there, and linen closet here. Other closet is the washer and dryer. Feel free to use whatever I've got that you need."  
  
Heero walked toward the right hand bedroom and deposited his bag just in the doorway. It was a room nothing like his room at the mansion in that the furnishings were comfortable but modest, as opposed to the expensive antique reproduction furniture there. There was a single window with open mini-blinds and a little drooping valance on top, and bright natural light filtered, giving the room a cheery, welcoming feel. In the middle of the floor and under the window was a single bed done up with clean bed linens that looked like they hadn't been used more than once or twice. A low dresser sat against one wall and a nightstand beside the bed. It was simple, sparse, but much more along the lines of what Heero was used to, and a faint smile graced his lips.  
  
Turning and exiting the room, he went to the bedroom on the other side of the condo, carrying Duo's bag in for him. Duo was sitting on the edge of his bed. Heero motioned to ask where he should put the bag and Duo asked him to put it in front of the chest of drawers along the front bedroom wall, which he did. This bedroom, though a little bit bigger and with a queen sized bed, was decorated much the same as the other _\--_ moderate but comfortable. Duo had a nice video screen and player in here though. Patting the mattress beside him, Duo invited Heero to sit beside him. Obliging, he did. Then for a few moments they said nothing, only just looked at each other awkwardly.  
  
"So, how's it going with the case?" Duo asked him as he tried to come up with something to break the silence between them.  
  
"It's doing well. Really well. Sally's been very happy with the outcome of everything, and I've heard rumors that the Preventers are going to be receiving a special award for handling the problem so efficiently."  
  
"Wow. That's really great."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Once more, silence. Heero let his eyes fall to the carpet as his mind filled with thought. Duo fidgeted with the edge of his cast and the curled edge of the cutoff sweats that he wore, the only thing that he could get on around the cast. When they looked up at each other again, they both half-smiled as if ready to say something, but not knowing what.  
  
"Relena is aware then, that you're going to be staying here for a while?" Duo asked.  
  
"I told her, yes. She was concerned."  
  
"Concerned?"  
  
Heero fidgeted now. "She thinks I'm not going to go back." The dark-haired man's face was written with guilt.  
  
"Well," Duo said, catching Heero's eyes with his own and holding them tight in his gaze this time. " _Are_ you?"


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

Life with Duo Maxwell had always been interesting, to say the least, but life with Duo Maxwell in a full leg cast was just short of a circus, as Heero found out very quickly.  
  
For starters, Duo didn't like to listen to doctor's orders, which came as no surprise to Heero at all. It's hard to keep a good Gundam pilot down, he reasoned. But when it got to the point, a few days after returning home, that Duo stayed on his feet so much that his toes were swollen by the end of the day, Heero had to take some measures to convince him to relax. He wound up modifying the living room so that everything Duo could possible want or need, including the controls to every remote object in the place and a remote-networked laptop computer, was within reach. The only thing he could possibly need to get up for was to either go to the bathroom or get something to eat, and even that had been dealt with somewhat, as Heero had fashioned a makeshift snack box supply of sorts that Duo could peruse while he surfed or watched TV. He spoiled him, in no uncertain terms, but Heero's main concern was that Duo keep his leg up and elevated, at least for the first month while the most critical healing was going on.  
  
Then besides having a problem following his doctor's instructions, there was always Duo's temper that needed dealing with. Occasionally he would get so annoyed at either himself, his cast, or some other inanimate object in the house that had made his way impassable that Heero would hear the man curse mouthfuls from across the condo and immediately know that Duo had either tripped or collided with something. These verbal outbursts were usually followed by the sound of whatever the offending object was being punted across the room like a football, by Duo's casted foot. Luckily, thus far, it had only been things like Heero's gym bag that had been left in the living room, and the plastic trash can in the kitchen. When he kicked the snack box that Heero had been keeping stocked for him, all he succeeded in doing was creating a big mess as individually packed granola bars and peanut pouches went flying all over the living room. The coffee table had actually kicked back, leaving the frustrated man reeling in pain. He didn't kick anymore furniture after that.  
  
Showering had become another serious problem, since all Duo had was a shower stall and an especially deep jet tub without a showerhead. Heero picked up one of those showerheads with the flexible hose from a home center – the kind of head that was screwed onto the spigot on the tub – and that would have worked fine except that once he finally tried the tub out, Duo realized that the sides were far too tall for him to maneuver his garbage bag covered cast over, even to let it rest up on top of the sides. Baths were definitely out.  
  
In the shower stall he fared a little bit better, but wound up having to hold his leg out of the curtain in order to not allow any water to drip under the bag and wet the inside of the wrappings. The last thing he wanted was to need to have the thing cut off and reapplied because he'd allowed it to get wet. The problem remained though, that he could only face the water stream, his right leg propped outside the curtain. Turning around in the shower wasn't an option either.  
  
One afternoon that first weekend, while Duo was fumbling in the shower, fighting to keep the plastic up since it continually seemed to want to slide down, Heero could hear him cursing from all the way down in the living room. They'd gone as far as to tape the bags all the way around the top of Duo's leg to keep water from leaking in, and still the cast was getting wet as the tape unstuck after getting wet itself. Medical grade tape, even. Heero chuckled, shaking his head as he listened to the tirade going on above him until he heard a loud "thud" from the living room ceiling and went running, hoping that Duo hadn't slipped and fallen.  
  
Pushing open the door and bursting into the bathroom, Heero entered the steam-filled room to find Duo cursing like a sailor and fighting with the trash bag that by now was getting mangled from Duo's attempts to set it straight. Seeing Heero come in, Duo looked up, exasperated.  
  
"I can't do this! I can't fucking do this! This goddamn plastic won't stay in place, I can't do what I need to do, and I've had it! I want to wash my goddamn hair, and I can't turn around in here to do it, and I can't get the goddamn plastic to stayinfuckingplace!" Duo's expression was actually a little comical, to think that all of his fuss was because of a plastic bag and his cast. He was not amused at the smirk on Heero's face though.  
  
"Can I help?" Heero asked, thinking about how they could get Duo's hair washed without getting the cast wet.  
  
"Not unless you want to just wash your hair in place of mine, which accomplishes nothing."  
  
"Here, wait a second." Heero went to the bathtub and unscrewed the flexible handheld showerhead that he'd put on when they thought Duo would be able to use the tub. "Turn off the water." Duo turned off the water, then hopped carefully to stand at the back of the shower stall while Heero leaned in to unscrew the existing showerhead. He replaced it with the flexible head, then turned to the dripping, half-soaped man next to him. "Try that." Heero noted Duo's lean, angular form, his eyes straying to give him a quick once over, and then he realized that Duo had seen him do it. Heero blushed and pulled himself out of the shower stall as a smirk appeared over Duo's lips. "Sorry."  
  
"For what?" Duo asked, full well knowing what Heero was apologizing for. He turned on the water until there was a spray coming from the handheld head and started to rinse himself off of the soap that was drying on him. He kept his casted leg outside of the shower stall, causing the curtain to be partway open. Then putting the handheld into his other hand, he was able to spray off the back of his head.  
  
Heero sighed. "I should go."  
  
Duo's face fell. "If it's not too much trouble, do you think you could..." He stopped, not sure if he should even ask, knowing deep down inside that what he was doing really wasn't fair to Heero. He was trying to seduce his friend, or at least get him more interested, and as much as he wanted to do that, part of him realized that it just wasn't right. If Heero wanted him, he'd say so himself. Maybe. Hopefully.  
  
"What do you need?" Heero asked, trying desperately to pull himself away from the bathroom and the naked man in the shower. Why he was trying to get away, he hadn't quite figured out yet, since Duo had, more or less, admitted that he wanted to be with him. Heero realized that he was still having a hard time dealing with his own sexuality in the context of actually being part of a couple. Being with someone. All his life he'd been a loner, and though he was making great strides to become the person he really should have been the whole time, sometimes the thought of closeness still caused alarm. It was as if as much as he wanted to belong to someone, there was that one part of him that continued to be cautious, warning him that he shouldn't get attached in that way.  
  
"Iya..." Duo said, deciding he would go for broke, since it was obvious that Heero was going to need a guiding hand in realizing if he wanted to develop a relationship, "I was wondering if you could, ah, help here with rinsing my hair after I get it shampooed. See, this is lots better, this hose and all, but I still won't be able to reach all the way back there and get all the shampoo off." There. He'd said it.  
_  
He wants me._ Heero froze for a moment, thinking about what he should do. _You know what you should do, idiot!_ Then before he waited long enough to let Duo think he wasn't interested, Heero walked back into the bathroom and up to the shower, where he cautiously pulled the curtain a little further back. He took the showerhead from Duo, who stood himself in position to have his hair wet by the stream of water while keeping his leg out of the spray, leaning on the front shower wall for balance, and his hands shook a little while he did so. When all of the long, chestnut hair was saturated, he turned off the water and waited for Duo to shampoo himself, the fragrance of the shampoo filling his nose and making him want to reach his hands out to help. _Why are you fighting yourself? You're not J's puppet anymore. Stop denying yourself, Heero! Wash his hair! He wants you to do it!_ Determined to not let the soldier win out, eventually he did.  
  
Heero let the showerhead lay in the bottom of the shower, and stepped closer to gently touch Duo's sudsy hair with his fingers. As soon as they made contact though, he felt Duo stiffen and stop what he was doing, so he pulled his hands back. Rubbing his fingers with the foam from the shampoo, Heero stood embarrassed, letting his eyes drop.  
  
"No, it's OK." Duo said without turning to face him. "Please."  
  
Garnering the courage to try again, Heero stepped close once more, then let his fingers go back to the long, soapy hair, only this time his touch was expected, and Duo softened instead. More confident that his advance was wanted this time, Heero started to massage the shampoo into Duo's hair, working it slowly into his head, until he was softly scrubbing his scalp, making more lather. Duo leaned into his touch, letting his head fall back and closing his eyes, and he released a long, contented sigh. Heero smiled and kept massaging. He shampooed Duo's hair like that for nearly ten minutes, both of them sucking up their own pleasure from it as he did. The heat on Heero's cheeks was equaled only by the feeling of heat he began to feel in his pants, and in embarrassment he adjusted his legs to try to hide anything that might be even the slightest bit visible by the other man.  
  
Switching the water back on and adjusting it for temperature, Heero then moved the spray up Duo's back and to the ends of his long hair, being careful of the cast, and he rinsed from the bottom up, until he reached his head. "Put your head back more," he said, needing to rinse his scalp but not wanting to spray soap or water into Duo's eyes. Duo obliged and let his head fall all the way back on his neck, and he kept his eyes closed as the spray fell on the top of his head, rinsing all the soap away. Heero rinsed him a few times, until the water ran clear of any suds, and then turned the water off again. Handing the showerhead back to Duo, their eyes met, and he smiled shyly before turning and disappearing out of the bathroom door again, leaving Duo to finish up by himself.   
  
Neither of them mentioned the hair-washing episode, at least not until two days later when Duo planned on washing his tresses once more. Heero knew he didn't wash his hair every day, that doing so would cause dryness in hair that long, and he patiently waited until Duo announced that he would be taking extra time in the shower to do it again. Then waiting until the other man had already settled himself in the stall and had the water going, his casted, plastic bag covered leg sticking out of the partially-opened curtain, Heero went to Duo's side again where he took the showerhead from him to help him wash his hair. After that it became a regular routine, Heero washing Duo's hair for him while he was in the shower, and a routine that brought them that much closer together.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

It was one week to the day before Duo was to have his cast removed and Heero lay in bed in the wee hours of the morning, unable to sleep. His mind was restless, as it had been since Duo had scheduled the appointment for the cast removal. It signaled an end to an era and a time for a decision. Would he go back to Relena's place?  
  
Seven weeks seemed to have passed like lightening, and Heero found himself suffering from not only indecision, but from loss as well _\--_ a loss that he hadn't yet even experienced, nor did he have to if he decided to accept Duo's offer to be a permanent roommate. He didn't know if it was the right thing to do, though, since in all the time that he'd been there, they hadn't had any other conversations like the one they had while Duo was in the hospital. Yes, there had been and continued to be the hair-washing thing, but Heero didn't want to just assume that because he was helping Duo wash his hair, that it meant anything other than what it was. _Moron! Of course it's more than that! You're just too afraid to act on it, because you love him and you won't admit it to yourself!_ Sighing, Heero stared at the ceiling as daylight slowly crept into the room.   
  
It wasn't until he heard Duo moving around in the other bedroom across the hall that his attention was drawn to the back of his bedroom door. He could hear the man thumping around with his cast _\--_ he'd taken to hopping more now than using the crutches since he no longer felt pain if he used the leg _\--_ and he went about his bathroom business, then made his way downstairs. It seemed awful early for Duo to be up, but Heero just dismissed it an tried to get a few more winks of sleep before having to get up for work. The crash that came from the kitchen had him abruptly sitting up in bed though, and he quickly rose and trotted down the stairs in just his underwear to see what the problem was.  
  
Standing in the doorway to the kitchen, Heero found Duo in the midst of a pile of pots that had fallen from the cabinet shelf as Duo had attempted to get out a frying pan.  
  
"Is everything OK? I heard a crash."  
  
Duo sighed with annoyance. "Fine. Sorry I got you out of bed so early." The kitchen clock read five-fifteen. "Just trying to make us some breakfast before you head off, but the frying pan got hooked on the other pot, and I tried to lean over to get it out and near lost my balance."   
  
"What are you doing up so early? I don't have to be in until nine," Heero said, helping Duo pick up the pots that had fallen, littering the kitchen floor.  
  
"Couldn't sleep."  
  
"No? Everything OK?"  
  
Duo stood and straightened. "I haven't been able to get my appointment next week off my mind."  
  
That makes two of us. Smiling, Heero agreed. "Going to be weird to have that thing off, I'd guess. But it will be great."  
  
"No, that's not what I mean. Yeah, I can't wait to get it off, but that's not what's bugging me."  
  
Heero stopped and just stood. "Then what is?"  
  
"I _\--_ " Duo began solemnly. "Heero, have you given any thought to staying?" His eyes were bright and hopeful as they captured Heero's. "I don't want you to leave."  
  
Sighing, Heero admitted that he'd been up thinking about the same thing, and hadn't come to any conclusion about what to do about it. "I'm just..."  
  
"Just what, Heero?" Duo said with noticeable annoyance in his tone. "I don't want you to feel you have to stay if you don't really want to stay...but you do want to stay. Don't you?" His question was less of a question than it was a confirming statement and Heero knew it.  
  
"I don't know what I want, Duo," Heero said, and the crack in his voice was audible. You DO know what you want to do, you're too afraid to make the decision! "I..."  
  
"I know what you want better than you do, Heero." Duo put the frying pan in his hand up on the stove burner and turned to face his friend with a perturbed expression. "Can I assist you in making your decision?"  
  
Raising an eyebrow, Heero said, "Umm, I suppose." The next thing he knew, his lips were being devoured by Duo's, the longhaired man holding him with both hands by the sides of his head, forcing him into a hold and bearing down on him, attacking him with the most breathtaking kiss he'd ever imagined possible. At first he was taken off guard and Heero tried to fight, but once his mind registered what was happening, he let himself be kissed. He let his lips be parted and Duo's toothpaste-minted tongue enter his mouth, exploring his warm depth, causing his head to spin and his stomach to turn. He let Duo sweep him off his feet standing right there in the kitchen, making him dizzy with the pent-up passion that was flowing through both of them. Then before it was all over, Heero joined in and kissed back, finally answering the call that had been sent out to him.  
  
Roughly pushing the two of them apart, out of breath and gulping air, Duo stared deep into Heero's eyes with a look of annoyed accomplishment. That sly little smirk of his graced his thin lips. "There. Think about that for a while and let me know."  
  
+  
  
Heero went through the rest of his day in a blur. His lips had burned with Duo's fire for hours after the kiss in the kitchen, and his gut was in turmoil like he'd never experienced in his young life. This must really be what love is like. They never did make breakfast, Heero disappearing in a daze to take an early shower while Duo clamored back upstairs to lie on his bed thinking. When he was washed up and dressed, Heero just grabbed his laptop case and jogged down the flight of stairs. He left for the morning without saying goodbye, so he never did notice the smirk that was still on Duo's face, he being able to sense the tension that he'd caused in Heero with that one, albeit very hot, kiss. He was going to be two hours early to work, but in the state of mind he was in, he needed the time to think anyway.   
  
By ten that morning he'd been through three cups of coffee from the shop across the street and had absently perused a few surveillance reports, his mind flooded with thoughts from that morning instead. That kiss had been...wonderful. There was nothing else to call it. It had left him floating inches above the floor and his heart pounding in his chest with excitement and anticipation. He was positive now, that this intoxicating emotion was what Duo had been warning him of all along. He hadn't felt the slightest tingle when Relena had kissed him twice, yet Duo managed to stir him up just with his eyes. A kiss from Duo surged through him like lightening, awakening parts of him that he never realized even existed. For the first time in his life, Heero lusted after someone. That kiss, that one magical kiss, had cut through him like a burning blade and settled right in his groin, a sensation that no other person had yet caused in him. Not even Relena, as beautiful as she was and as delicious as she smelled. It just didn't affect him the way Duo did.  
  
No sooner than he'd thought of her did Heero's video phone ring _\--_ it was Relena. She was dressed for a meeting or luncheon, done up nicely with makeup and her hair up, and she smiled at him. She really was beautiful, Heero thought, but no matter how much he might try, he didn't think there was any way for him to convince himself that he should be with her. As guilty as that made him feel, he contemplated why it was that he even should feel guilty about that _\--_ after all, people are people _\--_ you can't "make" someone like you. Forcing a smile to hide the question in his mind, Heero greeted the girl.  
  
"Good morning, Heero," the Foreign Minister said, smiling brightly and trying to put on her best show for him. She'd been especially thoughtful and accommodating toward him since he'd been staying with Duo.  
  
"Good morning, Relena."  
  
"I understand you're reading over the reports from yesterday's surveillance?" There had been some upheaval again in the L5 cluster and Preventer units were once more keeping a close eye on a few key "troublemakers."   
  
"Doing that as we speak." Heero smiled, realizing that she could see through its fakeness.  
  
"So, how are things going at Duo's?"  
  
"He's doing much better, thanks." Shifting in his chair, Heero's eyes got a little hard. Relena knew how to push his buttons, he realized, and it seemed as though these days, though she probably didn't mean anything by it, she would frequently revert to seeing him squirm by bringing up Duo. Maybe it was her realization that she didn't stand a chance with him, or it was just plain jealousy, but no matter what it was, she never failed to make it known that she was still dissatisfied with the way things had progressed between them. She never came right out and said anything to him, but the subtle innuendoes were enough to drive Heero crazy with guilt.  
  
"It's been a while now. When does the cast come off?" Relena asked this time, prying for whatever information she could get.  
  
Sucking in a deep breath, Hero answered, "The cast will be off a week from today. It's been seven weeks already."  
  
"Wow, how time flies," she said with a false expression of glee on her face. "Well, I guess that means you'll be back home in a week then, doesn't it? I'll have your room freshened before you get back."  
  
Heero closed his eyes for a moment, his heart rate increasing slightly at the sound of her words. What the hellis it with today? "Relena, I..." he faltered.  
  
"I'm sorry, what was that?"  
  
He looked her straight in the eyes and said it. "Relena, I'm going to stay. I'm going to move in with Duo."  
  
As she went to speak, Relena's mouth opened, then closed again, silently.   
  
"I'm sorry, Relena. I need to thank you for all the hospitality you've shown me, and all the help you've given me, and you know I'll always be your friend..."  
  
Relena chuckled. "It's OK, Heero. I didn't think you were going to live here forever." Her face smiled cordially at him, but her eyes told a different story.   
  
Heero was momentarily saddened. He'd hurt her through no fault of his own. "I'm so sorry, Relena."  
  
Hiding her disappointment as best she could, Relena looked away from the screen to gather herself. "Heero, please. You have to do what's right for you. I know that. I can't say I won't miss having you at the mansion, but you'll always be welcome there, should you ever desire to come back."  
  
"I appreciate that," Heero said, then let his eyes drop, ashamed.   
  
"OK then. I really need to get going, but let me know when you'll be by for the remainder of your things? Or if you prefer, I can send them to Duo's place for you?"  
  
"No, I'll be around to get them. No need to send anyone. Probably over the weekend, if that's alright." Looking up to meet her eyes again, Heero offered the peace offering of a little smile, and Relena could not help but to smile back.  
  
"That'll be fine, Heero. I'll see you later." With that the call terminated from Relena's end.  
  
For a few minutes Heero sat, unmoving, and contemplated what had just happened. Then sighing, he shook his head and smiled to himself, a great pressure having been lifted off his shoulders. He'd made a major decision _\--_ a decision that would influence his own happiness and nothing more _\--_ he was going to stay with Duo. Though his mind was confused, his heart rejoiced.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

The next seven days passed by slower than any that Heero could remember in recent history and by the weekend he was mentally exhausted. He'd spent the entire week thinking about his conversation with Relena, and the guilt that he still felt over it, even though Duo continually reminded him that there was no reason to feel guilty, since the girl already knew that he didn't have feelings for her. Heero still felt badly about the whole situation though, and even if for only the fantasy going on in Relena's head.  
  
Duo had been in a state of reserved joy when Heero broke the news that he'd made the decision to stay. There was no mistaking the excitement and happiness in Duo's eyes, and to celebrate, they went out for a pizza and ice cream afterward. When Saturday came around, they drove to Relena's so Heero could get the remainder of his belongings. She was out at the time, which was a relief to both men, and Heero left her a nice letter on her desk stationary saying that he'd been by, and thanking her for everything she'd done for him. The yellow long-stem rose that he intended to hand to her was left with the letter on top of her desk.

+

Monday morning they were both up at the crack of dawn, since this was the big day that the cast came off. Duo's appointment was at eight-thirty in the morning, with a nine-thirty physical therapy session immediately following. Heero drove to the orthopedic office and accompanied his friend while the plaster was sawed off him with a dremel tool, and they cracked jokes the entire time, making the technician a bit nervous as Duo feigned being sliced by the blade one too many times for comfort. When it was all said and done and the cast was completely removed, Duo was a little surprised to see just how much condition his leg had lost, and his mood changed a little bit.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Duo," the orthopedist said for the hundredth time, reassuring him that a few weeks of physical therapy would get the leg back to normal strength and use. It hurt now, more than it had in a lot of weeks, since there was no cast supporting it, and Duo limped very cautiously, all the while still trying to put off the not-a-care-in-the-world persona that he did so well, but Heero wasn't fooled, and realized his concern.  
  
Physical therapy was certainly a treat too, as the therapist showed Heero all the exercises that Duo needed to do on a daily basis. The therapist made him stretch and bend the leg until he saw stars and his eyes welled up. They kept up the slow movement for a half an hour, until the leg was tired and Duo's muscles ached.  
  
"So I guess you get to be my torturer now, eh Heero?" Duo said as they left the medical facility a half an hour later on their way home. He laughed, eliciting a shy smile from Heero.  
  
"Better watch yourself, or I'll make you do an extra set of knee bends then!"  
  
\+   
  
They proceeded home so that Duo could take his first normal shower in two months, which was the one thing he'd been anxiously waiting for, but not before stopping off to get a few groceries. Duo stayed in the car while Heero ran in quickly. Heero had insisted, since Duo already had a workout during the half-hour therapy session, and they'd been warned about him overdoing it for the first week or two.  
  
Hobbling in the front door to the condo, limping but finally unaided by cast or crutch, Duo was singing the praises of being free.  
  
"Oh it is SO good to have that damn thing OFF! I can't even begin to tell you what a pain in the ass it was to have that cast!"  
  
Heero chuckled. "You don't have to. I lived it with you, remember?"  
  
"Haha, funny Yuy," Duo said teasingly. His leg throbbed and he could only partially bend his knee, but it was great to not have the heaviness and constriction of the cast around him anymore. And besides that, he could scratch himself now, which had been nearly impossible before. He'd tried the trick of shoving an unbent coat hanger down the inside of the cast, but all that did was serve to literally leave scratch marks in his skin, and he never could get the thing to scratch the right part of him anyway.  
  
When Heero went to his bedroom to check email, Duo disappeared into the bathroom, presumably to take his long awaited shower. After a few minutes, he could hear the sound of the spraying water, and Duo was giddy, singing to himself about having his freedom back. Heero chuckled, listening to the other man as he read his incoming messages. Then Duo called out to him from the bathroom.  
  
"Hey Heero?"  
  
"Yeah?" Heero said blandly as he surfed a world news website.  
  
"You comin' in to help me wash my hair or what?"  
  
Heero stopped what he was doing and looked up at the wall, past his computer screen. Help him wash his hair? _The cast is off._ He can do it himself now. Then suddenly Heero was struck as if by a freight train. _He wants me to help him wash his hair._ A slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and Heero felt that familiar twinge in his stomach again. "No cast this time," he said to himself as his pulse quickened. Wondering if he was ready for what Duo obviously wanted, he ran the shutdown function on his computer and closed the lid. _Here goes nothing._ Heero had made the decision to stay on with Duo because he knew that there was something more to their relationship _\--_ it was looking like it was time to find out exactly what that "more" was.  
  
"Heero?" Duo called again, and there was impatience in his voice this time.  
  
"Be there in a minute."  
  
+  
  
When he appeared inside the steam-filled bathroom, Duo was standing under the warm stream of water, having disconnected the handheld spray and letting the water flow through the normal one again. Heero reached in to push the curtain back, his heart pounding in his chest the whole while as he second-guessed himself. _I hope I'm doing the right thing. I hope this is what he wants. I hope this is what I want. I think I'm going to pass out_. When Duo turned to find him completely nude, the longhaired man's chin dropped as Heero stepped into the stall with him. It was a small space, making things tight for the two of them, but within seconds, the warm water slicking their warmer skin made the space more comfortable as their bodies touched for the first time. Heero's face was the color of a bright pink flower and his uncertainty shined clearly in his eyes.  
  
Duo grinned. "Planning on really getting into your work today, I see?"  
  
Trying to hide his embarrassed eyes away, Heero leaned into the shower spray, letting the water saturate his body and soak his hair, until he stood the same as Duo. Their eyes darting back and forth, latched onto each other's, Heero watched as Duo's expression went from surprise to humor to pure lust. He felt arms sliding around him as Duo pulled him close, and before he knew it they were consumed in another mind-blowing kiss under the shower, water spraying all over and down their faces before they pulled away to catch their breath. When they did, there was nothing short of pure mischief that Heero saw in Duo's eyes.  
  
"God, Heero, you don't know how long..."  
  
Heero quieted him by bringing their lips together again.  
  
"I knew it would only be a matter of..."  
  
And again.  
  
"I kept telling myself that you were nervous and..."  
  
And again once more until Duo didn't have the breath to keep talking. By the time they stopped again, they were both panting and fully aroused. Reaching for the shampoo bottle, Heero poured some into his palm, then started to spread it over Duo's long, wet tresses and scrubbing it in. Standing behind the other man, he massaged his scalp deeply, able to reach both sides with ease now, since he was right behind him, and a low moan escaped Duo, making him smile.  
  
"Like that?"  
  
"Uh-huh," Duo said in a high-pitched, indulged whine. Heero's smile broadened a little bit as he scrubbed harder. Duo was melting at his touch. Once his hair had been expertly and rather erotically shampooed, as he'd stood the entire time not knowing what felt better _\--_ the scalp massage or Heero's hardened length lying wedged between his cheeks the whole time _\--_ Duo did a final rinse on his hair, then carefully turned around to face Heero.   
  
Grinning, driven by his lust, he pushed him against the shower wall where he descended upon him in a passionate kiss. Thank God for little rubber shower floor traction stickers, as their bodies slid together with the slickness of shampoo suds, and before long Heero was gasping out from the pleasurable sensations that were attacking him.  
  
"How do you feel, Heero?" Duo asked in his most sensual, desirable voice. "Tell me. Do I 'do it' for you?"  
  
Pinned against the shower wall as Duo leaned on him, Heero closed his eyes and groaned as he felt a hand touch him. _Ohgodohgodohgod_... Before he could comprehend what was happening, he was being stroked very gently. He opened his eyes and Duo's face was right up to his. They stared at each other as Duo stroked him, and his eyes glazed over from the unbelievable feelings that were surging through him at that moment. Duo rested his bad leg by holding his weight with the other, and his right knee was positioned carefully between Heero's legs, just close enough to give an occasional nudge in the right place. A clear drop hung on the end of Duo's nose, and Heero watched it as it clung, and then fell, only to be replaced by another one.  
  
"You didn't answer me, Heero. Do I _'do it'_ for you?" Duo's manipulations became suddenly more deliberate, his hand sliding all the way down the soapy shaft and back up again, pausing to tease the tip, until Heero felt like he would explode any moment.  
  
"Yes. Oh yes." Heero closed his eyes again to concentrate on the pleasure he was submerged in.  
  
"Does it feel _right_ , Heero?"  
  
" _Oh God, yes_."  
  
"It feels right to me, Heero."  
  
" _Oh, this feels so right_."  
  
Duo pushed himself closer, and Heero could feel him moving his hips against him, their slick bodies sliding against each other. He felt the hardness between them, near his groin. The remains of the shampoo covering them made it easy for Duo to rub himself on Heero, and he did, eliciting his own moans as he continued to stroke him. Their faces side by side and dripping with water, Duo panted with half-lidded eyes, the scent of his clean breath flowing past Heero's nose in little puffs as he too allowed himself to be swallowed by the moment. _God you look so sexy like this._ Needing to follow that sweet sensation that radiated from his groin, Heero thrust hard into Duo's slickened hand, further heightening his sensitivity.  
  
"Come for me," Duo whispered into Heero's ear, his eyes still closed as he stroked the other man, his own arousal slipping up and down between the flesh of their bodies. " _Come for me, Heero_." Just the sound of his voice asking for it made Heero crazy inside, making him tingle all over from its sexual undertone. Duo was quickly rewarded with a low, gasping moan as Heero came in his hand. _Ohmygodohmygodohmygodthisisincredible..._ His body shuddering as Duo continued to pump him, Heero came like never before, like the sensation pulled from every part of his body. His legs grew weak and he had to remember to hold himself up against the shower wall before he knocked them both down. For a few minutes he was completely numb in his sated condition, still feeling the remnants of his climax, until he grinned sadistically at Duo.  
  
Pulling Duo into an aggressive kiss, Heero was still on fire, still feeling the surge that ran through him, and he held the other man tight against him. He slid his hand between them just far enough to capture the tip of Duo's length, and there he teased it gently, still a little cautious as to what felt good and what didn't, but the response he got encouraged him. As Duo threw back his head and ground himself closer toward the feel of Heero's contact, he let his hand encircle the end, and Duo thrust into it. Slick shampoo suds made wet, squishing noises, but neither of them even heard it as Duo grasped for his own orgasm.   
  
When he brought his head forward again, he leaned close and captured Heero in another kiss, pushing harder against him. As their tongues slipped over one another, Duo reached his climax, pulling away to verbalize the lightening that was ripping through him, but Heero held him tight. Their lips pressed hard together, Heero swallowed the passion of his orgasm in his kiss while Duo spasmed, spilling himself between their bodies as he slid between their slippery skin.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Shira

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

NOTE: see part 1 for notes, warnings   
AUTHOR: shira

Papillion + Part 24

Lying back on the bed, Heero was exhausted from the energy he'd expended in the shower. Though the episode lasted less than a half hour, including the washing of Duo's hair, they had both been so tense...so emotionally and sexually charged, that every ounce of energy had been spent in the excitement. Sexual gratification with another person was a tiring thing, he now realized, but it was worth every second, especially when it was with that special person that could make you feel oh-so-good. _The way Duo makes me feel._ The way Duo made him feel.  
  
"So what did you think?" Duo asked, lying next to Heero. They were in Duo's bedroom, having both flopped down on the bed to relax after their shower. Duo's hair was wrapped in a thick, fluffy towel. They lay naked on the bed, both looking up at the ceiling. The only thing missing from the scene was a couple of cigarettes, except for the fact that neither smoked.  
  
"Mmm," Heero answered, a smile appearing on his face. He closed his eyes and let his body become one with the mattress.  
  
Duo smirked. "That's what I thought you'd say."  
  
"You do an awful lot of thinking about what I'm going to say, don't you?"  
  
"Well, you're predictable, that's all."  
  
"Predictable?" Heero asked.  
  
"Heero, you've _always_ been predictable. Since I first met you."  
  
"Oh yeah?"  
  
"Uh huh. I never said that was a bad thing either, now. Just that I know you, probably better than you think I do."  
  
"How do you know me so well then?"  
  
"I've studied you, Heero, because I wanted to find whatever way I could to try to be with you." Duo blushed.  
  
Heero smiled, embarrassed.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I just can't believe you've been interested in me all this time."  
  
"I can't believe I finally got through to you."  
  
They both laughed quietly.  
  
"I'm glad you did. Thanks for being so persistent."  
  
"Hey, I've figured out that getting what you want is a good thing!" He smiled, and then chuckled.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh nothing."  
  
"It's something. What?"  
  
Blushing, Duo said, "Today is the first time I've ever seen you completely nude. Not that spandex leaves a lot to the imagination but...you've matured since those days, let's put it that way!"  
  
Heero turned bright red. "And were you disappointed?"  
  
"Not in the slightest." Duo's mischievous smirk was back and he let his eyes close as his mind wandered into fantasy. "Not in the slightest."  
  
"I could say the same, but I've seen you naked before, so I already knew what I was getting." Heero laughed, acknowledging the number of times he'd patched Duo up after a bad mission or getting him out of Oz captivity and having to tend his many wounds. Then for a few minutes they just lay thinking about the other's attractiveness.  
  
"So..." Heero began, "...where do we go from here?"  
  
"Wherever you want to go. Whatever floats your boat, yanno?"  
  
"Where do _you_ want this to go?"  
  
Sighing, Duo said, "This isn't just about me, Heero."  
  
"I know it isn't. But I trust you. Where do you want to lead me?"  
  
"Heero..."  
  
"I promise I'm in it for myself, too. I'm not just saying it because I know you want me to. I want this. I realized a little while ago that I really, _really_ want this, just like you do. I just need to be led a little bit, that's all. Because I'm just learning about life, you know. I trust you to do that."  
  
A little smile appeared on Duo's lips. "Well, for starters..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'd like it if you would move into this bedroom with me. That is, only if you want to do that."  
  
Heero smiled and opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling once more. "I'd like that."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Cool."  
  
They were quiet for a few minutes as they both contemplated.  
  
"What else?"  
  
After a few seconds, Duo said, "Nothing else. That's it."  
  
"That's it?"  
  
"If you feel the way I do, then that's it. The rest will happen on its own."  
  
"Oh...OK."  
  
"I just want to be able to lie here with you next to me at night."  
  
"Like we're doing now." Heero answered as he let his heavy eyelids close again.  
  
"Just like we're doing now." Duo turned his head to look over at Heero, who was quickly passing out and into a quiet slumber after the afternoon's activities. Seeing his friend so relaxed, Duo decided a nap probably wasn't a bad idea. His leg was sore again, and he suddenly felt very drained as well, so he let sleep start to claim him, confident that when they woke up, they'd both be looking at the world in a new way. Then letting his eyes close, he drifted off into sweet dream-filled slumber.  
  
Awaking momentarily, Heero looked over at Duo's still form beside him, and he admired him, bringing a smile once more to his lips. _Thanks, Duo, for sticking by me. I owe a lot to you, after all these years. Chip or no chip, you're the one who has helped me feel the most human out of anybody. Thanks for setting me free from myself._ Heero yawned. _For the first time in my life, you've made me happy to be who I am, and I will always appreciate that._ Rolling over onto his side, Heero draped his arm over Duo's stomach, and within seconds he was resting soundly again.  
  
~owari


End file.
